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MIND AND BODY 



HYPNOTISM AND SUGGESTION APPLIED 

IN THERAPEUTICS AND 

EDUCATION 



ALVAN C. HALPHIDE 

A.B.,M.D.,B. D.,Etc. 

PROFESSOR OF THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF MEDICINE IN 
HAHNEMANN MEDICAL COLLEGE; PATHOLOGIST TO 
THE HAHNEMANN HOSPITAL, AND PRESI- 
DENT OF THE CHICAGO SOCIETY 
OF ANTHROPOLOGY 
ETC, ETC. 



ILLUSTRA TED 



PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR 

3458 Wabash Avenue 
CHICAGO 



TWO COPIES HiiCElVfiD, 

tlbrary of Coii ffpa8 % 
Office & f tbe 

FER 2 i 1900 

tiegltt«r of Copyright^ 

yV % is/ 





COPYRIGHTED BY 

A. C. HALPHIDB 

1899 



' ).: SECOND COPY, 



TO MY FRIEND 
E. G. L. 

WHOSE FRIENDSHIP AND ENCOURAGEMENT HAVE 
INSPIRED ITS WRITING, THIS WTTI,E VOLUME IS 
AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED BY 

THE AUTHOR 



PREFACE. 

The influence of the mind over the body has 
long been recognized, and as an old writer said : 
"It is the mynd that makes good or ill, that mak- 
eth wretch or happie." Now and then, through 
the centuries, a favored mortal has caught a 
glimpse of the great truths of suggestion, in 
psychic healing and education, but it has re- 
mained for the investigators of the closing years 
of the nineteenth century to fully appreciate and 
systematize them. 

Suggestion is such an important factor in med- 
icine and education that none can afford to 
neglect it. 

Many have come to me for instruction in sug- 
gestive therapeutics and many others have writ- 
ten to enquire about it. I have been asked to 
recommend a suitable text-book, I could not, 
there is none. This little volume has been writ- 
ten to meet these demands for a simple statement 
of the fundamental elements of the subject. 
Whether it is a success or not others must decide. 
It is at least sent forth in good faith. 

An attempt has been made, in these pages, to 
plainly set forth the facts, and illustrate rather 
than try to explain them by citing instances, 
which have been observed in a personal experi- 
ence with suggestion in a general practice of 
medicine in which there has been opportunity 
for much use of it. 

Nothing has been kept back, for it seems 
plain that the truth and the whole truth should 



PREFACE. 

be told. Suggestive therapeutics has too long 
been hindered in its adoption by the medical 
profession by the mystery which has surrounded 
the subject. Alarmists will say that it is putting 
a dangerous instrument into the hands of the 
laity, that the use of such means should be re- 
stricted to the medical profession and that it in- 
vites a criminal use of hypnotism. These things 
need disturb no one. Ignorance is the most 
dangerous thing in the world, and it is no excep- 
tion in this case. 

It is well known that most of the harm 
that has been done by the use of hypno- 
tism has resulted from its use by ignorant ex- 
perimenters. This book will make the subject so 
simple and plain that none need do harm with it. 
Moreover, when the subject is well understood 
there will be little danger of its being put to 
criminal use. 

It is believed that the book will be helpful to 
physicians in the practice of medicine ; to teach- 
ers in all grades of educational work, and to 
parents in the training of their children. 

An exhaustive discussion has not been at- 
tempted ; it has seemed better to point out the 
way and encourage study, allowing each one to 
make a personal adjustment to his own needs. 

A. C. H. 

Chicago, Illinois, April, 1899. 







6UZUA 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER I. 

THE ANTECEDENTS OF HYPNOTISM. 

Traditional influence — Historical values — No system 
until the end of the middle ages — The birth of 
Hypnotism — The fantastic philosophies of the time 
— Friedrich Anton Mesmer — Source of his theories 
— Proof of Mesmer's originality — He applies his 
theories and cures diseases — His departure from 
Vienna — Mesmer becomes popular in Paris — The 
celebrated baquet — Fantastic fairy tales discounted 
— Mesmer initiates a crisis — Mesmer's fancy cos- 
tume — The padded room — Mesmer's fame eclipsed 
— The ban of the government — In Benjamin Frank- 
lin's garden — The commissioners take treatments — 
Adverse reports from the Faculty and Academy — 
Discoveries and fallacies of a Marquis — Verbal 
suggestions — The triumph of fallacy over fact — 
Pititin's discovery — Abbe Favia's magic — The cause 
of somnambulism recognized — A naturalist's contri- 
bution to the subject — From the baquet to the hos- 
pital — Report of another high commission — Acade- 
mic disfavor — A rechristening — The close of the 
history of the wonders of animal magnetism. 

CHAPTER II. /£/ 

THE DEVELOPMENT OF HYPNOTISM. 

Braid renames mesmerism — Braid's experiments in 
hypnotism — Braid and phreno-hypnotism — The 
British Association refuses to consider hypnotism — 
Hypnotism as an anaesthetic — Value of Braid's re- 
searches — Hypnotism in the United States — Grimes 
and Electro-Biology — Methods of application — 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

• 

Braidism becomes popular in England — "Dr. Phil- 
ips" makes exhibitions in Europe — Azam and 
Broca make experiments in Paris — Hypnotism rec- 
ognized by the Academy of Sciences — Distin- 
guished men study it— Liebault writes a book — He 
reduces suggestion to a system — Charcot uses Hyp- 
notism in Salpetriere — His methods — The School of 
Salpetriere — The School of Nancy — Liebault's clin- 
ic — Why the Nancy School is preferable — The In- 
ternational Congress for the study of Hypnotism 
at Paris, 1889 — The importance of Hypnotism in 
its various aspects — The Three Schools of Hypno- 
tism at the present. 

CHAPTER III. I 

THE METHODS OF HYPNOTIZING. 

The various theories that have been held — The several 
methods stated — Suggestion as a factor — Hypnosis 
a psychic state — Preparation of the subject — The 
operator's personal influence — Illustrative experi- 
ments — Fear and resistance — Verbal suggestion — 
Fixed gaze — The process explained — The com- 
bined method illustrated — Cooperation necessary — 
He does not wish to do it — Need of individualizing 
subjects — Some unusual methods — A case in point 
— From natural sleep to hypnosis — Importance of 
this method illustrated — Instantaneous methods of 
hypnotizing — Induction of somnambulism — He 
wanted "to hear music" — It is the expected that 
happens — Hypnotizing against the subject's will — 
Hypnotizing a subject without his knowledge — Who 
is hypnotizable? — Weak versus strong minds — 
Methods of dehypnotization — A student's predica- 
ment — Unintentional suggestions — The hypnotee is 
never unconscious — Special directions — Points that 
should be emphasized. 

CHAPTER IV. Q 

THE PHENOMENA OF HYPNOSIS. 

Hypnosis denned — Relation to natural sleep — Classifi- 
cation of states and stages — Light and profound 



CONTENTS. IX 

hypnoses — Illustrative instances — Phenomena of 
hypnosis — Suggestibility— Inhibited and continued 
movements — Amnesia — Double consciousness- 
Hypnosis a state of increased suggestibility — Its ef- 
fects upon memory — Examples — Restoring mem- 
ories — Plays forgotten music — A false mem- 
ory may be induced — Suggestions by signs 
— Telepathy — Acuteness of senses — Symptoms 
peculiar to hypnosis — Lethargy — Catalepsy — Func- 
tional changes by suggestion — The classical phe- 
nomena — Effects upon the special senses — Post- 
hypnotic suggestions — Most favorable conditions 
for them — Renewed states of hypnosis — Like the 
irresistible impulses in the insane — Illustrative ex- 
periments — Post-hypnotic amnesia — An example — 
Hallucinations and sense delusions — Instances — 
Emotions affected — Change of personality — Uni- 
lateral hypnosis — Facial expressions — Experiments 
easily made. 



CHAPTER V. I tff 

THE THEORY OF SUGGESTION. 

The importance of the subject — Psychic power — Men- 
tal medicine — The various systems of the same — 
Christian Science — Mind Cure — Faith Cure — Spirit 
Cure — Mesmerism — Suggestive therapeutics — The 
underlying law — A question of psychology — Dual 
nature of mind — Consciousness — An illustration — 
What the physiologists claim — Proofs of double 
consciousness — In the waking state — Dream-con- 
sciousness — Induced subconscious states — Several 
classical cases — Pathologic double personality — The 
amenability of the mind to suggestion — "Playing 
a trick" — Manner of increasing suggestibility — The 
subconscious mind suggestible — The functions, sen- 
sations and states controlled by the subconscious 
mind — Power of mind over the body — The law of 
suggestion — An illustration of the same — The Great 
Physician — The value of faith — The necessary con- 
clusion. 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VI. 
SUGGESTION IN THE WAKING STATE. 



Ill 



The sphere it occupies — Three methods of application 
— Discussion based upon personal experience — 
Psychic healing — Two important laws — Credulity — 
Tendency of the expected to happen — Hypnotism, 
an illustration — Morphine habit, an illustration — 
Drug action — A story, or a joke, which? — Value of 
diagnosis — What the journals say — Drugs needful 
— A surgeon's testimony — Diseases caused by sug- 
gestion — Nervous shocks — An extreme case — Sug- 
gestive therapeutics — Power long used — Confidence 
in the physician — Unconscious use of psychic forces 
— Glimpses of a great truth — Intelligent application 
— Laity and mental medicine — No fixed rules in 
psychic treatment — The bondage of custom — Hope 
and happiness are helpful — Methods found useful — 
A remarkable case — A little encouragement — Nerv- 
ous prostration — Grief kills, joy cures! — The direct 
method — Value of repetition — A young doctor's 
case — Convinced by a trial of it — Treatment be 
suited to the individual. 



CHAPTER VII. / U J 

TREATMENT IN NATURAL SLEEP. 

Novelties in suggestive therapeutics — Sleep defined — 
Duality of mind — Sleep and hypnosis — Dreams 
and the phenomena of sleep — Dreams influence 
waking life — Cured by a night vision — Sleeping in 
the temples — Attention or rapport — From natural 
to induced sleep — The young lady who snored — 
Importance of suggestion in natural sleep — An il- 
lustrative case — A nurse's case — A patient who was 
caught napping — A wife cures her husband of alco- 
holism — Illustrated in cases of restlessness and 
troubled dreams — Treatment in sleep and hypnosis 
identical — A series of remarkable changes — Auto- 
suggestions cause disease — How to treat one's self 
— Sleep not a state of unconsciousness — Auto-sug- 



CONTENTS. XI 

gestion and dreams — The theory of auto-suggestion 
— A friend who cures himself — Limitations of auto- 
suggestion. 



CHAPTER VIII. |^| 

CLINICAL HYPNOTISM. 

The value of hypnotism in medicine — Hypnotism in 
general practice — The mind no mean power. "Im- 
aginary diseases" — Hysteria and suggestion — A case 
in point — Persons dominated by ideas — Fear of dis- 
ease — Reflex nervous diseases — Muscular spasm — 
Hiccoughing — The advantage of psychic treatment 
— Not a last hope — Alleviation of pain in neuralgia 
— Nervous debility following evil habit — Insomnia 
and restlessness yield to hypnotic suggestion — Re- 
flex gastro-intestinal ailments — A young man unin- 
tentionally made ill — Constipation speedily relieved 
— Many chronic diseases simply habits — Dipsoma- 
nia cured — A relapse — Are cures by suggestion per- 
manent? — Cooperation of a third party — The to- 
bacco habit — Keep the mind occupied — A faith- 
ful friend — Masturbation successfully treated — Re- 
sults in acute diseases illustrated — Rheumatism and 
suggestion — Habits of childhood — Diseases of wo- 
men — Obstetrics — Surgery — Hypnotism and anaes- 
thesia — Tooth extraction — Simple fractures — Dislo- 
cation — Major operations — A curettement after 
abortion — Unprejudiced persons — Disappointments. 

CHAPTER IX. f$* 

SUGGESTION AND EDUCATION. 

Importance of education — Heredity as a factor in edu- 
cation — Environment as a factor — The child a piece 
of wax — Good and great men — Impressions or sug- 
gestions — The senses are so many open mouths — 
Not a new thing in education — Effect of sugges- 
tions upon children — Verbal suggestions not all — 
Children imitators — Intelligent suggestions — Meth- 



Xll CONTENTS. 

ods of application — Suggestions made in the wak- 
ing state — Natural ability — Likes and dislikes — Two 
laws, credulity and expectancy — A little miss and 
algebra — Education during natural sleep — Some 
methods — Tried upon a boy — Hypnotism in edu- 
cation — Vicious children — Faculties of the mind 
profoundly affected — Memorizing — Self-confidence 
cultivated — Learning to swim — The lady and the 
bicycle — Use and experience necessary to success — 
Self-culture and auto-suggestion — "Not the man 
I married" — Owes his business success to self-sug- 
gestion — An example — Go and do likewise. 



CHAPTER X. /$! 

DANGERS IN THE USE OF SUGGESTION. 

The question — The newspaper press — The enthusiasts 
— The truth — The theory of psychic healine — The 
law of suggestion — Dangers in its use — Treatments 
in the waking state — Suggestibility — Ignorance of 
the force used— Unwise and hurtful suggestions — 
Made insane by bungling treatment — The fallacious 
doctrine of a force from without. Constant sug- 
gestion makes an impression — Ignorance of the 
constitution and diseases of the body — Harold 
Fredric's case — The victims — Sins of omission — 
"Power to go forth as healers and teachers" — 
Why do I insist?— Death of Mrs. J. W. Eller— Fa- 
natical parents — Treatments in sleep — Its merits 
stated — Sleep and hypnosis — Suggestibility in- 
creased directly as the depths of hypnosis — Dangers 
urged are overstated — Wholly evil or entirely bene- 
ficial — Three sources of danger — The methods used 
— Lack of comprehension of the law of suggestion 
— Hypnotic sleep not dangerous per se— Fears en- 
tertained — The law uniform in its operations — The 
one hundredth time hypnotized — Perversion of the 
idea of truth — Conflicting suggestions — Dangers in 
stage exhibitions — Dehypnotizing — Exciting sug- 
gestions — Suggestion not a panacea — An illustra- 
tion — Ignorance and neglect — Erroneous popular 
notions — Fixed convictions antagonized — Sugges- 
tions in harmony with truth. 



CONTENTS. Xlll 

CHAPTER XL / . / / 

CRIMINAL SUGGESTION. 

The charge — Only legitimate uses concern us — Pop- 
ular opinion — Professional opinion — Extremists — 
An intermediate position the true one — A just state- 
ment of the facts — The nature of the case peculiar 
— Suggestion a universal law — Suggestibility is in- 
creased by hypnotism — Difficult to make experi- 
ments — Criminal suggestion possible — Can take ad- 
vantage of the subject — Crimes have been com- 
mitted — An instance — Subject not necessarily a 
criminal — Signing valuable papers — A profound 
hypnosis in a colored girl — Inducing subjects to 
commit crime — Fixed moral convictions or con- 
science — The law of self-preservation — Origin of 
auto-suggestions — The doubting student convinced 
— A second test — My friend's experiment — A black 
eye and a bloody nose — Manner of making sugges- 
tions — Perversion of conscience by suggestions — 
Legal status of the subject of hypnotism and crime 
— Four conclusions — The facts stated. 



CHAPTER I. 
THE ANTECEDENTS OF HYPNOTISM. 



Traditional influence — Historical values — No system 
until the end of the middle ages — The birth of 
Hypnotism — The fantastic philosophies of the time 
— Friedrich Anton Mesmer — Source of his theories 
— Proof of Mesmer's originality — He applies his 
theories and cures diseases — His departure from 
Vienna — Mesmer becomes popular in Paris — The 
celebrated baquet — Fantastic fairy tales discounted 
— Mesmer initiates a crisis — Mesmer's fancy cos- 
tume — The padded room — Mesmer's fame eclipsed 
— The ban of the government — In Benjamin Frank- 
lin's garden — The commissioners take treatments — 
Adverse reports from the Faculty and Academy — 
Discoveries and fallacies of a Marquis — Verbal 
suggestions — The triumph of fallacy OA^er fact — 
Pititin's discovery — Abbe Favia's magic — The cause 
of somnambulism recognized — A naturalist's contri- 
bution to the subject — From the baquet to the hos- 
pital — Report of another high commission — Acade- 
mic disfavor — A rechristening — The close of the 
history of the wonders of animal magnetism. 



Hypnotism, like many persons, is unfortunate 
in its antecedents and early associations, and 
has been greatly hindered and handicapped in 
its evolution by these influences. Early in its 
history it was mixed up with all sorts of mys- 

2 17 



18 MIND AND BODY. 

terious and extravagant notions, and it has been 
difficult for it to free itself from this ancient rub- 
bish and the reputation resulting from these as- 
sociations. But now that the searchlight of mod- 
ern science has been turned upon it and it has 
been taken up by the scientific members of the 
medical profession it is fast finding its proper 
place and its legitimate use in the realm of clini- 
cal medicine. 

In order to find the earliest use of the forces 
upon which suggestive hypnotism depends it 
would be necessary to go back to the beginning 
of the history of the race, for from that early time 
it has been known that one person can influ- 
ence another person at will under certain 
conditions by the exercise of certain pow- 
ers. We find records in the earliest his- 
tories of peculiar phenomena that can be 
none other than hypnotic conditions and 
states. Examples of these are the crystal 
gazing and divination in Egypt and elsewhere ; 
the wonders performed by the Caldeans and Per- 
sians; the production of trances by the Indian 
fakirs and yogis; tne induction of deep sleep m 
the shades of the temples, by the Greek and 
Roman priests, in which the sleeper often had 
prophetic dreams ; the imposition of hands for 
the relief of pain or cure of disease practiced 
by the Jewish prophets and early Christians; 
many religious rites in all ages which produced 



THE ANTECEDENTS OF HYPNOTISM. 19 

an autohypnosis in the worshiper, and so on, 
to the end of a long list. 

And yet, these are but isolated cases in which 
no system appears; indeed, no system appeared 
until the end of the middle ages. This system, 
set forth by Paracelsus (1530), was based upon 
the doctrine of the influence of the stars upon 
mankind, especially upon mankind's diseases, put 
forth by the believers in astrology. Out of this 
doctrine the belief gradually developed that not 
only did the stars influence men, but men also 
mutually influenced each other for good or for 
evil. 

For our present purpose it is not necessary to 
turn back farther than to the middle of the 
eighteenth century to find the antecedents of 
modern hypnotism. It had its birth as a curative 
system at a time when the world was full of all 
sorts of fantastic and foolish philosophies and 
pseudo-scientific schemes for short-cut roads to 
health, wealth, knowledge and immortality. 
Swedenborg had received inspired revelations 
and had developed his theosophic cult ; Schrepfer 
had introduced his impositions upon the world 
in connection with the masonic mysteries ; Cag- 
liostro had demanded attention to his extrava- 
gant claims of supernatural power and brazen 
impostures ; the priest and exercist, Gassner, had 
startled the world by his marvelous power as a 
healer, and finally Mesmer, the founder of animal 



20 MIND AND BODY. 

magnetism, and, through it, of hypnotism, ap- 
peared with his crude notions of a universal 
fluid and, through this, of the influence of the 
planets in the cure of disease. 

Frederick Anton Mesmer was born at Iznang, 
on the Lake of Constance, May 23d, 1734. His 
parents wanted to educate him for the church, 
but he turned from the study of theology to that 
of law, and, after another change, finally took up 
the study of medicine. He graduated as a phys- 
ician from the University of Vienna in 1766. The 
subject of his graduating thesis was "The Influ- 
ence of the Planets in the Cure of Disease." In 
this thesis he outlined his theories and discussed 
animal magnetism as a "quality of animal bodies 
rendering them susceptible to the influences of 
heaven and earth." He likened the action in- 
volved to that of the moon upon the ebb and flow 
of the tide, and sought to explain the fluctua- 
tions and periodicities of diseases by this analopy. 

It is certain that Mesmer obtained many of 
his ideas and theories from the proscribed writ- 
ings of the previous century. Paracelsus and 
many of his immediate followers (Van Helmont, 
Maxwell, Glocenius, Kircher and Santanelli) 
wrote voluminous books filled with unproved 
theories and unprofitable arguments. They had 
much to say of the use of the magnet, believing 
that in it they could recognize the properties of 
a universal principle by which all natural phe- 



THE ANTECEDENTS OF HYPNOTISM. 21 

nomena might be explained. Mesrner drew 
heavily from these writings undoubtedly, but he 
showed his originality in making practical appli- 
cation of the data obtained by applying them, 
by means of contact and passes, in the cure of 
the sick. So that while the foundation of animal 
magnetism had been laid by others, it was sys- 
tematized and brought into universal notice by 
Mesmer. 

He practiced his method of cure in Vienna, 
with some success, for a decade. At first he 
made great use of the magnet, but gradually he 
gave it up, having found that he could produce 
the same effects with his hands or with instru- 
ments he had magnetized by handling. He dis- 
tinguished animal magnetism from the magnet- 
ism of metals, and insisted that it was the 
former which was useful and by means 
of which persons could influence each other. 
In 1775 he sent out a circular letter, ad- 
dressed to the several academies, outlining his 
theories. To this he received but a single reply, 
and that unfavorable. 

The cure of an important personage, a protege 
of Maria Theresa, involved him in a disputation 
with the court physicians, which finally necessi- 
tated his departure from Vienna, in 1778. From 
Vienna he went to Paris, where he soon became 
very popular. Here he expounded his theory 
of the magnetic fluid, and cured the sick and 



22 MIND AND BODY. 

published a paper announcing to the world the 
discovery of a principle capable of curing all dis- 
eases. He reduced his theory of cure to a series 
of twenty-seven "propositions," or, more exactly, 
assertions. These contained little more than his 
vague notions of magnetic medicine. Neverthe- 
less, he made many converts from the educated 
classes, among whom were M. Deslon, a member 
of the medical faculty, and M. de Puysegur. 
Deslon was very enthusiastic, and presented and 
defended animal magnetism before the faculty, 
claiming that it was "the most important discov- 
ery at which the human mind had ever mar- 
veled." However, the faculty voted to reject the 
propositions and also ejected Deslon from his 
seat in their body. 

Despite this opposition Mesmer's popularity 
increased, and the number of his patients was 
immense. All Paris wanted to be magnetized. 
When the number of patients became so great 
that Mesmer was unable to treat them personally 
he employed, first, a valet toucher, and imparted 
his curative influence to various inanimate ob- 
jects, wood, glass, iron and water, and then, 
finally, devised his celebrated baquet. He de- 
scribes his baquet himself, as follows : "A small 
open vessel (tub) on a three-legged support, from 
which emerged some bent iron rods, the points 
of which could be easily applied to the outer 
parts of the body, such as the head, breast, stom- 



THE ANTECEDENTS OF HYPNOTISM. 23 

ach, etc." The oaken tub contained broken glass 
and bottles, arranged with their necks toward the 
center, between which the iron rods passed on 
their way out through the cover, and the tub was 
nearly rilled with water. The baquet and other 
paraphernalia supposedly served to concentrate 
and convey the healing fluid proceeding so 
abundantly from Mesmer's body. 

The description of the scenes enacted about 
this famous baquet would discount the most fan- 
tastic fairy tales ever written. An eye-witness 
has described the crises that attended the treat- 
ments in that dimly lit room — with the odor of 
insense ; the mellow tones of an organ ; the hush- 
ed silence, the air of mystery, and the anxious 
expectancy — as Mesner, dressed in a robe of lilac 
silk, wand in hand, to initiate the crisis, entered 
and walked up and down among the excited 
crowd, together with Deslon and his associates — 
in the following sentences : 

"Some patients experienced pain and fever ; 
others fell into severe and unusual convulsions, 
frequently lasting for three hours ; others became 
faint and dazed, and but few remained unaffected. 
There was manifested the most violent involun- 
tary contortions of the limbs ; partial suffocation, 
heaving of the abdomen ; wild glances were ob- 
served ; one patient utters piercing cries, another 
has fits of laughter, while a third bursts into 
tears." This violent condition was technically 



24 MIND AND BODY. 

called a crisis. "It deprived the patient of all 
consciousness, so that none could at all remem- 
ber what had been felt, heard, or done while in 
this condition ; and yet they were so sensitive that 
one could not come in contact with them, not 
even touch the chair upon which they sat, with- 
out causing fright and convulsions which only 
the master could pacify." 

They had a veritable pandemonium and one 
cannot escape the conclusion, as he reads the 
description of the spread of the nervous disorder 
by contagion, that suggestion and hysterical im- 
pressibility were the chief factors in their pro- 
duction. Rooms had to be prepared — thorough- 
ly padded — for the reception of those who were 
likely to injure themselves in their convulsive 
seizures. The patients became less sensitive to 
the magnetic fluid as they approached a cure, 
and when well were supposed to be unaffected by 
it. 

However, Mesmer's fame was not to last long 
in Paris, for when, at Deslon's invitation, an ex- 
amination of his theories and methods was made 
by a committee from the Faculty of Medicine he 
was condemned by the hostile committee and 
threatened with the penalty of having his name 
removed from the licensed physicians if he did not 
amend his ways. He left Paris in consequence 
of this, although the government offered him a 
life pension of 20,000 francs per annum if he 



THE ANTECEDENTS OP HYPNOTISM. 25 

would remain. His absence was short, however, 
for his disciples, knowing his love of gold, raised 
a fund of 10,000 louis, and with this induced him 
to return and give them a course of lectures. 
This he did, but his popularity was gone, and his 
course of lectures proved unsatisfactory. His 
followers charged him with unfairness, claiming 
that after taking their money he had failed to 
divulge to them his secrets. This was not true, 
as we know now, for he told them all he knew 
of the subject, the difficulty lying in the fact that 
he did not understand it himself. One of the 
dissatisfied explained the situation in the follow- 
ing remark : "Those who know the secret are 
more doubtful than those who are ignorant of it." 
In 1784 the government nominated a commis- 
sion to inquire into magnetism. The commis- 
sion was made up of members from both the 
Faculty of Medicine and the Academy of Sci- 
ences, with Bailly, the noted astronomer, as the 
reporter, and our Benjamin Franklin, who had 
lately discovered the lightning conductor, as one 
of its members. Another commission composed 
of members of the Royal Society of Medicine 
was also appointed and charged to make a sep- 
arate report upon the same subject. Deslon pro- 
posed to the commissions that he would demon- 
strate the existence of the magnetic fluid by 
cures that he would make in their presence. This 
was not satisfactory to them; they wanted first 



26 MIND AND BODY. 

to observe "the instantaneous effects of the fluid 
on the animal body, while depriving these effects 
of all the illusions which might be allied with 
them, and ascertaining that they could be due 
to no other cause than animal magnetism." 

After putting themselves under treatment once 
a week for a few weeks without effects, the com- 
missioners occupied themselves in observing the 
effects upon the patients. They observed that 
no results followed unless they were aware that 
they were being treated, and that there was a 
wide difference in cases treated in private from 
those treated in public, the effect of the mag- 
netizing being much less in private cases. A 
sensitive subject was blindfolded and then in- 
formed she was being magnetized, when she im- 
mediately experienced the usual results, but 
when she was magnetized without being told 
she experienced nothing. A tree, in Franklin's 
garden, was magnetized, and a subject without 
knowing the conditions of the experiment em- 
braced that and four other trees, and at each 
one exhibited the usual phenomena. Thus the 
commission conducted a large number of careful 
experiments, and concluded that the results were 
due to contact, nervous irritation and imagina- 
tion. They reported in part: 

"The commissioners have ascertained that the 
animal magnetic fluid is not perceptible by any 
of the senses; that it has no action, either on 



THE ANTECEDENTS OF HYPNOTISM. 27 

themselves or on patients subjected to it. They 
are convinced that pressure and contact effect 
changes which are rarely favorable to the ani- 
mal system, and which injuriously affect the 
imagination. Finally, they have demonstrated 
by decisive experiments that imagination apart 
from magnetism produces convulsions, and that 
magnetism without imagination produces noth- 
ing." 

There was at the same time a secret report 
presented setting forth the dangers to morality 
attending these practices. The severity of the 
crises in all cases and the imperfect control of 
the subjects greatly prejudiced the members of 
the two commissions against mesmerism, as it 
was then called. So it is not surprising that the 
royal commission rendered a similar report five 
days later. 

These adverse reports had the effect of ending 
Mesmer's career in Paris, other events also con- 
tributing to that result. Comedies ridiculing his 
methods and procedures were produced at the 
various theaters. His adherents were still dis- 
satisfied, and at this time were greatly alarmed 
by several deaths at the baquet. His enemies 
and the press of the day used these things against 
him. He was defeated but not conquered, as 
is well shown in a letter which he wrote to 
Franklin. It closed as follows : 

"I am like you, sir, one of those whom one 



28 MIND AND BODY. 

cannot oppress without danger, one of those 
men who, because they have done great things, 
dispose of insult as powerful men dispose of au- 
thority. I have the world as my judge, and if 
the world can forget the good I have done, and 
the present good I wish to do, I have posterity 
as my avenger." 

In retirement, in a little town near the Lake 
of Constance, Mesmer lived the balance of his 
life, performing cures among the villagers and 
ever complaining of the world's ingratitude. He 
never changed his theories of the animal mag- 
netic fluid. And while he used various methods 
of application at different stages of his practice 
they were all based upon the same theory. He 
died at Morsburg, in Switzerland, March 5, 1815, 
and still lies buried there. 

Scon after Mesmer left Paris (1784), the Mar- 
quis de Puysegur made some remarkable dis- 
coveries. At the time he was living in retire- 
ment on his estate, near Scissons, and employed 
his leisure in magnetizing peasants after the man- 
ner of the master. In one of these subjects he 
observed the production of an entirely new phe- 
nomenon. It happened in this manner: One 
of his servants, a peasant, Victor by name, twen- 
ty-three years old, lay sick of inflammation of 
the lungs. After he had been sick four days the 
Marquis undertook to cure him by his favorite 
method. When magnetized, Victor passed into 



THE ANTECEDENTS OF HYPNOTISM. 29 

a peaceful sleep, all of the convulsive symptoms 
of the usual crisis being absent. This alone was 
surprising to Puysegur, but when Victor spoke 
aloud of his business he knew he had found 
something new. It was easy to change Victor's 
thoughts in any direction, to inspire him with 
cheerful ideas, keep him happy, make him im- 
agine he was firing at a mark or attending a 
village festival ; sad ideas were also inspired and 
'he was made unhappy and wept. 

This is where verbal suggestion had its birth, 
and the phenomena presented might readily have 
furnished the starting point for a thorough scien- 
tific investigation that would have placed the sub- 
ject in its true light and importance before the 
world, as we know it now, had not certain other 
ideas entered and directed the experiments into 
another channel. The facts that Victor was able 
to talk intelligently and, above all, that he could 
diagnose and prescribe for his disease were start- 
ling, and sent Puysegur chasing off after strange 
gods and fantastic theories. 

Upon waking Victor had no memory of what 
had happened while he slept. He was naturally 
a simple, stupid fellow, but when mesmerized he 
became remarkably intelligent; there was no 
need of addressing him in words, for he under- 
stood and answered the thoughts of those pres- 
ent. His rapid and wonderful recovery was soon 
noised about, with the result that all of the sick 



30 MIND AND BODY. 

in the country roundabout were brought to be 
healed. The phenomena were repeated, to Puy- 
segur's great joy, and he wrote : "My head is 
turned with joy now that I see what good I am 
doing." He, at first, followed Mesmer's exam- 
ple and magnetized a tree and let the patients 
sit upon benches around it, with affected parts 
bound with ropes which were attached to the 
tree at one end ; forming a chain by linking their 
thumbs together. Later, however, when he 
found that the mesmerized person could describe 
his ailments and give directions for his treatment 
and also diagnose and prescribe for diseases in 
others he dispensed with all the former para- 
phernalia. 

Now the whole subject was changed. There 
were no more pains, convulsions or crises. The 
patients fell into a quiet, restful physical condi- 
tion, but their minds were active. They were 
their own physicians, describing their ailments 
prescribing for them such simple remedies 
as they knew about. And, strange to relate, 
they could predict the date of their recovery. 

Thus the utterances of these mesmerized per- 
sons soon became clothed with supernatural 
qualities ; they were considered infallible ; they 
could see through persons and tell what parts 
were affected ; they could predict the future ; they 
could go in spirit to distant places and bring back 
information about persons and things; they 



THE ANTECEDENTS OF HYPNOTISM. 31 

could visit heaven and converse with God and 
the angels — upon the reports of such visits a 
large volume was written describing heaven and 
its arrangement and management; they were in 
rapport with the magnetizer and would obey him 
alone, interpreting his unexpressed commands. 
It was these mysterious phenomena of somnam- 
bulism which distracted Puysegur from the 
things of greater value and started his associates 
in a wrong direction. The valuable discoveries 
of an artificial condition involving a psycho- 
physiologic modification, in which the person 
was readily impressible by verbal suggestions, 
were wholly lost sight of in the chase after fan- 
tastic and foolish fictions. 

For all this the Marquis de Puysegur occupies 
a very important place in the antecedents of hyp- 
notism; although he failed to rightly interpret 
the discoveries he made, he observed and called 
attention to them, so that later others entered 
into his labors and were greatly profited by 
them. Certainly he is second only to Mesmer, 
the founder, in connection with this subject. 

Dr. Pititin, a Lyons physician, a little later 
(1787) made a discovery, as he supposed, which 
served to more completely turn the attention from 
the therapeutic aspect of mesmerism, namely, the 
transposition of the senses. One day while ex- 
perimenting with a somnambulic subject, in try- 
ing to change her position he accidentally 



32 MIND AND BODY. 

tripped and fell toward her. He was at the time 
remonstrating with her for her loud singing, 
which she would not stop, and when he fell for- 
ward his mouth was on the level with her stom- 
ach as he requested her to stop. She immediately 
stopped, but soon began again, and would not 
stop until the request was again addressed to 
her stomach. This incident was responsible for 
all of the absurd theories put forward by this 
man and others since. He made many experi- 
ments, and succeeded in demonstrating, to his 
own satisfaction, at least, the theory of sense 
transposition. He exhibited to his colleagues a 
cataleptic woman who saw, heard, felt, tasted and 
smelled with the epigastrium and the tips of her 
fingers. After Pititin's death a paper was found, 
which he had written, in which he reported seven 
such cases. He explained the phenomenon as 
due to the accumulation of the animal electric 
fluid in certain parts of the body. 

Another name should be mentioned at this 
point, Abbe Favia, who came from the Indies 
and gave public exhibitions — for money — of the 
wonders he could effect by means of mesmerism. 
The interest we have in him is not in the results 
of the mesmerism, but in the manner in which he 
mesmerized his subjects. This was new and 
curious. He seated his subject in an armchair, 
closed his eyes and commanded in a loud voice : 
"Go to sleep," repeating the command several 




ANGEL VISIONS. — See Page 



75- 



THE ANTECEDENTS OF HYPNOTISM. 35 

times, if necessary. After a slight movement the 
subject would often fall into a condition termed 
by Favia a lucid sleep. 

His career was cut short by an actor who 
feigned sleep, and afterward denounced him as 
a charlatan and an impostor. However, to Favia 
the credit is due of being the first to recognize 
that the cause of somnambulism lay in the sub- 
ject himself. He said that sleep might be in- 
duced at the will of the subject or when his will 
was inactive, or even against his will. His place 
is important in the development of suggestion, 
although he entertained many of the prevailing 
fallacies concerning the nature of somnambul- 
ism. 

In 1 813, at the same time that Favia was at- 
tracting attention to his "shows," the naturalist, 
Deleuze, investigated mesmerism and wrote a 
book on the subject of animal magnetism. At 
the time the work was highly prized, but it was 
crude and unimportant, although honest and 
sincere. He added nothing to our knowledge on 
the subject. Like his predecessors, Deleuze was 
chiefly interested in the curative virtues of ani- 
mal magnetism and urged its use upon the in- 
credulous in order that they might prove its 
value. He declared that faith was essential to 
its successful application and insisted, as the mas- 
ter and the others had done, that magnetism was 

3 



36 MIND AND BODY. 

efficacious in all diseases, was, indeed, a veritable 
panacea. 

During the Revolution little attention was 
given to the study or use of mesmerism in 
France ; however, in several other countries, es- 
pecially in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Russia 
and Denmark, it was studied by a few physicians. 
At this time it changed its scene of operation 
from the baquet and tree to the hospitals, and 
the operators, instead of being fashionable gen- 
tlemen amusing themselves, were practicing 
physicians seeking to solve the mysteries of mag- 
netism for the benefit of the sick. So when the 
subject was actively revived, in Paris, in 1820, 
by Dr. Bertrand in a course of lectures it was 
in a more favorable position for successful inves- 
tigation. The experiments were conducted in 
the hospitals upon hysteric subjects and along 
the lines of Puysegur's discoveries. The patients 
prescribed for themselves and others ; perceived 
the diseased organs with closed eyes, and ex- 
hibited other abnormal sensibilities. These re- 
sults, mixed as they were with the conscious and 
unconscious deceptions of the subjects, were not 
calculated to modify the skepticism of the scien- 
tific world. 

The Academy of Medicine in 1825 was induced 
by Foisac to appoint a commission to make a 
fresh examination into the question of animal 
magnetism. After five years of careful research, 



THE ANTECEDENTS OF HYPNOTISM. 37 

the commission made a favorable report. The 
existence of animal magnetism was affirmed as 
follows : 

"The results are negative or insufficient in 
the majority of cases, in others they are 
produced by weariness, monotony, or by the im- 
agination. It appears, however, that some re- 
sults depend solely upon magnetism and cannot 
be produced without it. These are physiological 
^phenomena, and well established therapeuti- 
cally." 

The friends of mesmerism made so much of 
this favorable report that the Academy did not 
dare to publish it. It had the effect of making 
mesmerism popular, but the popularity did not 
last long before a reaction set it. In 1837 an- 
other commission was appointed to examine cer- 
tain extraordinary phenomena, such as vi- 
sion without using the eyes and the com- 
munication of the magnetizer's thoughts to 
the subject without words. This inquiry 
was conducted with greater care than the 
previous one and the results and the report 
were unfavorable. The report stated that som- 
nambulism did not exist; the interpretation of 
the operator's thoughts was referred to the un- 
conscious suggestion; the readings with the 
back of the head were either failures or due to 
the shrewd guesses of the subject. 

Burdin, a member of the Academy, in order to 



38 MIND AND BODY. 

settle the question of animal magnetism, offered 
a private prize of 3,000 francs to any person who 
could read without the aid of the eyes and in the 
dark. The Academy accepted the proposal, but 
no one ever claimed the prize. So the Academy 
voted, in 1840, to refuse from that time forward 
to give any further consideration to the subject 
of animal magnetism. 

Soon after this denial of academic recognition 
in France mesmerism found an able advocate 
and promoter in England. M. Lafontaine, a 
traveling mesmerist, while giving exhibitions in 
Manchester, England, arrested the attention of 
James Braid, an English surgeon, who made a 
series of experiments which led him to declare 
that the effects of mesmerism were psychical 
rather than physical, as was commonly held. On 
the strength of this discovery he rechristened the 
science hypnotism. Braid has the honor of being 
the first to make a scientific study of the subject. 
He directed the question into the proper field, 
that of observation and experiment. However, 
the development of hypnotism, which begins at 
this point, must receive an independent discus- 
sion later. 

Here closes the history of the wonders of ani- 
mal magnetism, they must give place to the facts 
of hypnotism. They were not all absolutely 
false, indeed it is more than possible that some 
of the marvelous phenomena reported had a basis 



THE ANTECEDENTS OP HYPNOTISM. 39 

in truth, although misunderstood. Telepathy is 
vouched for to-day by many able observers, who 
insist that there is no longer room for a reason- 
able doubt that mental suggestion is a fact. 
Clairvoyance is also claimed by many and previ- 
sion and the rest by a few. These are interest- 
ing subjects, but not necessarily connected with 
hypnotism, so their discussion here would be 
out of place. 



CHAPTER II. 
THE DEVELOPMENT OF HYPNOTISM. 

Braid renames mesmerism — Braid's experiments in 
hypnotism — Braid and phreno-hypnotism — The 
British Association refuses to consider hypnotism — 
Hypnotism as an anaesthetic — Value of Braid's re- 
searches — Hypnotism in the United States — Grimes 
and Electro-Biology — Methods of application — 
Braidism becomes popular in England — "Dr. Phil- 
ips" makes exhibitions in Europe — Azam and 
Broca make experiments in Paris — Hypnotism rec- 
ognized by the Academy of Sciences — Distin- 
guished men study it — Liebault writes a book — He 
reduces suggestion to a system — Charcot uses Hyp- 
notism in Salpetriere — His methods — The School of 
Salpetriere — The School of Nancy — Liebault's clin- 
ic — Why the Nancy School is preferable — The In- 
ternational Congress for the study of Hypnotism 
at Paris, 1889 — The importance of Hypnotism in 
its various aspects — The Three Schools of Hypno- 
tism at the present. 

The exploitation of most of the marvelous 
phenomena in somnambulic subjects came to an 
end when Braid undertook the study of mes- 
merism and gave it the right trend and the new 
name, hypnotism. He was a practical, scientific 
man and began the study of magnetism as an in- 
quirer and a skeptic. 

In 1 84 1 he was present at an exhibition of 

mesmeric experiments given by M. Lafontaine, a 

Swiss magnetizer. He at first thought the whole 
41 



42 MIND AND BODY. 

show a fraud, but a week later he became in- 
terested, especially in the fact that it was im- 
possible for the subject to open his eyes. He 
considered this a real phenomenon and sought 
a physical explanation and it occurred to him 
that it might be due to the fixed gaze which 
has the effect of temporarily paralyzing the nerve 
centers of the eyes and the lids. Thus he ob- 
served the first symptom of hypnotism, the spasm 
of the muscle of the eyelids, and referred it to 
a modification of the central nervous system. 
From this first correct observation modern hyp- 
notism has developed. 

Satisfied that the theoretic animal fluid was 
not the cause of the phenomena, but that they 
resulted from a subjective state, he began a series 
of experiments himself in the presence of his 
family and friends. He began with Mr. Walker, 
a friend, whom he required to sit in a chair and 
gaze intently at the neck of a wine bottle, which 
was placed a little higher than the line of vision 
so as to strain and fatigue the eyes. After three 
minutes tears flowed down his cheeks, his eyes 
slowly closed, he heaved a deep sigh and fell into 
a profound sleep. Upon awaking Walker was 
considerably exercised over the matter and ex- 
pressed a fear of such experiments. But Mrs. 
Braid, who had closely watched the first experi- 
ment, ridiculed him and declared that she was 
not afraid. So when her husband requested her 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF HYPNOTISM. 43 

to try it she readily consented. A porcelain sugar 
bowl cover was held before her eyes at about 
the same angle and distance that the wine bottle 
had been held before Walker's eyes. In two and 
a half minutes her eyelids closed with a slight 
convulsive movement, her mouth twitched, a 
shudder passed over her body, she sighed deeply 
and fell back fast asleep. These experiments 
proved his theories, as he said : 

"I now stated that I considered that the ex- 
periments fully proved my theories ; and express- 
ed my entire conviction that the phenomena of 
mesmerism were to be accounted for on the 
principle of a derangement of the state of the 
cerebro-spinal centers." 

The importance of Braid's discoveries has been 
very great in the development of hypnotism. 
The fixation theory threw a clear light upon 
some religious practices which up to that time 
had not been explained, namely, why the Indian 
devotees are thrown into an ecstasy of divine 
union, so-called, by long contemplating an im- 
aginary point in space, and why the monks of 
Mount Athos attained the same result by fixing 
their gaze on their navels. He is to be credited 
with two important discoveries, the one just 
mentioned, namely, fixed gaze, and another 
called the suggestion of attitude. He found that 
when he placed an hypnotized person in the at- 
titude of prayer that the person's thoughts turn- 



44 MIND AND BODY. 

ed in the same direction, and he wanted to pray, 
and when he placed one in the attitude of anger, 
with clinched fists, his face took on the expres- 
sion of anger and he wanted to fight. Beside 
these, he observed that sensorial perceptions 
might be stimulated to hyperacuteness ; that ver- 
bal suggestions might produce hallucinations, 
emotions, paralyses and so forth, and suggestion 
during the waking state which is now generally 
recognized did not escape his ODservation. How- 
ever, he failed to recognize the universal applica- 
tion of suggestion and the part that unconscious 
suggestions played in many of his experiments. 

Although his observations were generally cor- 
rect, Braid's insight into the nature of hypnotic 
phenomena did not prevent him from falling into 
error and being led away by a fiction, or hinder 
him from developing the extravagant phreno- 
hypnotism nonsense. The belief that pressure 
upon the various phrenological bumps, while 
in the hypnotic state, produced various mental 
states in the subject depending upon the bumps 
pressed. As a sample of his anticlimax, let him 
recite a portion of his travesty on science : 

"I placed a cork endways over the organ of 
veneration and bound it in that position with the 
bandage passed under the chin. I now hypno- 
tized the patient and observed the effect, which 
was precisely the same for some time as when 
no such application was used. After a minute 



THE DEVELOPMENT OP HYPNOTISM. 45 

and a half an altered expression of countenance 
took place and a movement of the arms and 
hands, which latter became clasped as in adora- 
tion, and the patient now arose from his seat and 
knelt down as if engaged in prayer. On moving 
the cork forward an active benevolence was man- 
ifested and on being pushed back veneration 
again manifested itself." 

We can forgive Braid for this phreno-fanciful 
digression, but his colleagues could not, and 
would not accept his valuable discoveries when 
they were mixed with such visionary notions. 
They could not be expected to seek out the ker- 
nels of truth from so much chaff. Therefore, it 
is not surprising that the British Association, in 
1842, refused to consider the phenomena of ner- 
vous sleep, as later set down in his book on 
"Neurypnology," and turned to other matters, 
although he had the support of the physiologist 
Carpenter and others. Braid was not discour- 
aged, but pursued his investigations, giving ex- 
perimental seances in London, Liverpool and 
Manchester, using hypnotic anaesthesia in surgi- 
cal operations, and making a pretty thorough 
study of hypnotic therapeutics. The results of 
his research have been very great and his honor 
should be likewise great. 

Hypnotism obtained a footing in the United 
States at about the time that Braid took up its 
investigation, and that, too, quite independently 



46 MIND AND BODY. 

of him, although much of the same phenomena 
was observed. 

An American, by the name of Grimes of 
New Orleans, showed that most of the hyp- 
notic phenomena could be produced in cer- 
tain subjects in the waking state by means of ver- 
bal suggestions. Thus anticipating, in some of 
his results, what Liebault later more thoroughly 
elaborated and systematized. For some time 
New Orleans was its chief center, but later it 
was disseminated throughout the United States. 
Dods and Stone should be mentioned among its 
adherents and disseminators. 

Magnetism in this country went under the 
name of Electro-biology. The system became 
very popular and obtained for itself an appear- 
ance before Congress in 1850. Its methods could 
not be better shown or explained than by a brief 
quotation from one of their writings : 

"Let two persons of equal brain, both in size 
and fluid, sit down. Let one of these individuals 
remain perfectly passive, and let the other exer- 
cise his mental and physical powers according to 
the true principles of mesmerizing, and he will 
displace some of the nervo-vital fluid from the 
passive brain and deposit it in his own instead. 
The next day let them sit another hour, and so 
on day after day, until the acting brain should 
have displaced the major part of the nervo-vital 
fluid from the passive brain and filled up that 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF HYPNOTISM. 47 

space with its own nervous force, and the person 
will yield to the magnetic power and serenely 
slumber in its inexpressible quietude." 

From the United States electro-biology was 
carried to England by Darling in 1850, where 
the identity of the phenomena with that of Braid- 
ism, as hypnotism was then frequently called, 
was soon recognized. At this time this system of 
cure was widely used in England and was made 
very popular through the cure and conversion of 
Miss Harriet Marteneau. She was cured of a 
long illness by magnetic treatments. She was a 
very popular author and her "Letters on Mag- 
netism" attracted wide attention, and many 
sought relief from their ailments through the 
new method of cure, and its advocates used it 
in all branches of medicine and surgery with 
more or less success. 

A French doctor, Durand de Gros, who had 
lived in America for several years, returned to 
Europe, and under the pseudonym of Dr. Philips 
exhibited the phenomena of hypnotism in 
France, Switzerland and Belgium. He aroused 
but little interest himself, but was the means of 
keeping the subject before the profession in 
Europe. He wrote a book, in i860, on "An Out- 
line of the Theory and Practice of Braidism," 
in which he set forth his ideas of the mechanism 
of hypnosis. However, his book contained little 
that was new and made little impression upon 



48 MIND AND BODY. 

the medical profession. His theories somewhat 
resemble those more plainly set forth, a few years 
later, by Liebault which will be considered pres- 
ently. 

Azam, a surgeon, was instrumental in reviv- 
ing interest in hypnotism in Paris. He made 
some experiments at his home in Bordeaux and 
later communicated the results to Broca, in 
Paris. His experiments were begun upon a poor 
girl, whom, when visiting, he found in a state 
of spontaneous catalepsy. He recognized the 
condition as similar to the states produced by 
Braidism of which he had read some reports. 
He succeeded in producing many of Braid's re- 
sults in her, such as anaesthesia and hy- 
peresthesia, active somnambulism and so forth. 
He experimented upon and succeeded as well 
with another girl of whom he wrote : 

"If during the state of catalepsy I place her 
hands in the position of prayer and leave them 
thus for a certain time, she states that her 
thoughts are fixed on prayer, and that she sup- 
poses herself present at a religious rite. When 
placed with folded arms and drooping head, she 
feels her mind possessed by a series of ideas of 
humility and contrition. When her head is raised 
her ideas become haughty." 

He failed to recognize the subtle part that un- 
conscious suggestions played in these results. 
Azam was chiefly interested in the anaesthesia 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF HYPNOTISM. 49 

which frequently accompanies hypnotic sleep. In 
company with Broca he sought in hypnotism a 
fresh mode of producing anaesthesia for surgical 
operations. Broca argued that a method that 
employed no drugs was absolutely inoffensive. 
This is wrong, however, since death has been 
caused by suggestion. 

Broca and others performed many surgical 
operations under hypnotic anaesthesia. They 
lanced abscesses, extracted teeth, and later even 
amputated a thigh. These operations were 
brought to the attention of the Academy 
of Sciences and caused that honorable body to 
rescind its motion, of some twenty years before, 
not to pay any further attention to the proposals 
of the magnetizers. One thing, at least, was 
true : The reality of nervous sleep could no 
longer be doubted, and the mode of producing 
it was known, as well as its main symptoms. 

Distinguished physicians were now able to 
study these phenomena without danger of com- 
promising their professional characters. This 
they did and soon many valuable treatises ap- 
peared, some of which are still worthy of peru- 
sal. 

Among the books above mentioned was one, 
published in 1866, by Liebault entitled "Sleep 
and the States Analogous to It, Specially Consid- 
ered in the Action of the Mental upon the Physi- 
cal," In his preface to the work he explains : 



50 MIND AND BODY. 

"In my endeavor to study the passive modes of 
existence I have first sought to demonstrate the 
truth that they are the effects of a mental action 
and then to make my readers acquainted with 
their properties from the point of view of the 
action of the mental on the physical." 

Liebault began his study of hypnotism in 
Paris, but later removed to Nancy, where he 
continued his investigations. He was the found- 
er of the science of suggestive hypnotism. Cer- 
tainly suggestion had long been recognized, but 
he was the first to appreciate its therapeutic value 
and systematically apply it in the treatment of the 
sick. Living in retirement, as he did, apart from 
the medical world, his work and his book did not 
receive the attention they deserved. However, 
he patiently and quietly pursued his investiga- 
tions and the treatment of his patients, who were 
largely from the poorer classes. For over thirty 
years he maintained his hypnotic clinic, treating 
many thousands of patients. There is no doubt 
but that Liebault merits the honor of being the 
founder of the suggestive therapeutic of to-day. 
He used and carefully elaborated the method of 
sending his patients to sleep by oral suggestions. 
And beside, his book contains an outline of near- 
ly all of the chief points in the therapeutic appli- 
cation of hypnotism recognized by investigators 
of the subject at the present time. 

For several years the profession was inclined 




INHIBITION. -See Page 86. 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF HYPNOTISM. 53 

to laugh at and ridicule Liebault and his notions, 
but it is his turn to laugh, for they are glad to 
esteem and honor him now. Not the least of his 
accomplishments was the turning of Bernheim 
and others to the study of hypnotic phenomena. 
Bernheim joined Liebault in his hypnotic clinic 
and has continued it until this day. Around these 
two men has grown what is known as the Nancy 
school of hypnotism or suggestive therapeutics. 

Independent of Liebault, in 1875, Charles 
Richet came forward in Paris in the defense of 
hypnotism which he called ''Induced Somnam- 
bulism." He published the report of a series of 
experiments which he had made while house sur- 
geon of a Paris hospital. The report was full of 
interesting facts, but it obtained little notice. 

Three years later Charcot began his public 
work in hypnotism, in which he drew attention 
to the physical states of hystero-epileptics in hyp- 
nosis. On account of his prominence in the pro- 
fession, his researches at the Salpetriere awak- 
ened great interest and a considerable number 
of physicians became his pupils and followers. 
However, his experiments were made upon 
hysterical subjects and consequently the results 
were biased. They did not represent the pure 
phenomena of hypnosis, but were hysteria plus 
hypnosis. He was a profound student of neu- 
rology, but he failed to recognize this fact, and 

this led him to the erroneous conclusions which 
4 



54 MIND AND BODY. 

hindered his proper appreciation of the thera- 
peutics of hypnotism. His pupils have for the 
most part followed him in his errors. 

Charcot founded the other school of hypno- 
tism, which is sometimes called after him and 
sometimes the Salpetriere school. Thus we, at 
present, have the two principal schools, the one 
founded by Liebault and the other by Charcot. 
As we have occasion to refer to them we shall 
call them the Nancy school and the Salpetriere 
school, respectively. 

A sharp contest arose in France between these 
two schools on account of their wide differences 
in methods and results, in which the Nancy 
school has gained ground more and more until 
now. The differences in the methods of the 
two schools and the reasons of the success of the 
Nancy school in hypnotic therapeutics require 
a brief discussion. 

Charcot's methods of hypnotizing his patients 
were violent and calculated to profoundly startle 
them. He used a loud noise, as suddenly strik- 
ing a Chinese gong, or a bright light, as sud- 
denly flashing an arc or calcium light into the 
eyes of the unsuspecting patient. The results 
obtained were very marked artificial neuroses, 
namely, cataleptic and hystero-epileptic fits. It 
is easy to see how from these results, which gen- 
erally followed, he recognized only a profound 
hypnosis and classified them accordingly. He 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF HYPNOTISM. 55 

taught that hypnotism was a form of hysteria, 
and only useful as a therapeutic agent in that 
and allied diseases, and, "moreover, since it is a 
disease it is dangerous to use." His conclusions 
were perfectly correct deductions from the data 
at hand, for it seems to be axiomatic that we 
have no right to induce one disease to cure an- 
other. He was misled, however, by making his 
experiments upon diseased subjects. Indeed, the 
therapeutic application, outside of hysterical sub- 
jects, was little pursued at Salpetriere. They 
sought rather to prove hypnotism by unques- 
tionable proofs, to place hypnotism upon a solid 
basis, and to elucidate thereby the physiology and 
pathology of the nervous system. 

Charcot and Luys are said to have adopted 
the theory of metalo-therapeutics proposed by 
Dr. Burq, who claimed that the metals produced 
different effects when applied to the bodies of 
hypnotized subjects. Later Luys claimed simi- 
lar results from hermetically sealed tubes, con- 
taining drugs, unknown to the subjects. The 
Nancy school denies the validity of these results, 
claiming that they are due to unconscious sug- 
gestions, which is probably true. 

So while Charcot's experiments have been of 
great value in the scientific study of hypnotism, 
they are of small use in their therapeutic applica- 
tion. His was the grand hypnotisme in con- 
tradistinction from the petit hypnotisme of the 



56 MIND AND BODY. 

Nancy school. However, Charcot's bitterness 
against the Nancy school abated near the end of 
his life and he recognized its contentions, but 
many of his former pupils had previously turned 
from him to the other school. 

Liebault's methods of hypnotizing were mild 
and calculated to soothe his patients and were all 
based upon the suggestion of sleep to them. Sev- 
eral different methods were used, but he most 
often used verbal suggestions, repeatedly sug- 
gesting the idea of sleep in a monotonous tone 
of voice. So important did Bernheim, who fol- 
lowed Liebault's methods, consider this method, 
that when asked : 

"What is hypnotism?" 

"In hypnotism, suggestion is everything," he 
readily replied. 

Thus it is plain why the methods of the Nancy 
school are preferable and are being more used 
in hypnotic therapeutics. It is not alone because 
they are milder and do not shock the system and 
produce disease, as do the methods of the 
Salpetriere school, but more because they empha- 
size the most important factor in hypnotic thera- 
peutics, namely, suggestion. 

In order to facilitate a general discussion of 
the various important questions in the develop- 
ment of hypnotism and magnetism, an interna- 
tional congress was held in Paris in 1889, at 
which nearly all civilized nations were repre- 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF HYPNOTISM. 57 

sented and at which much was done to clear up 
some of the disputed points. There were, in fact, 
two congresses, an hypnotic congress, and a 
magnetic congress, for they held separate ses- 
sions. 

From the 8th to the 12th of August problems 
concerning experimental and therapeutic hyp- 
notism were discussed. The congress favored the 
interdicting of public exhibitions. The Nancy 
school favored the view of the abolition of free 
will, but this was disputed by the Saltpetriere 
school. Both stated that the beneficial thera- 
peutic action of hypnotism upon the sick was 
fully demonstrated and also reported good re- 
sults in the moral treatment of vicious children 
and in the suggestive treatment of the insane. 

From the 21st to the 26th of October "The In- 
ternational Congress for the Study and Applica- 
tion of Human Magnetism to the Relief and Cure 
of the Sick" contended for the action of passes 
on the subject in the magnetic and waking states. 
They insisted that, "it remained clearly estab- 
lished that apart from physical agents, there ex- 
isted a useful, beneficial and salutary influence 
of the individual in sound health over the dis- 
eased person." It was described as a "contagion 
of health." 

A full report of the congresses would be out 
of place here ; let it suffice to say that the views 
of the Nancy school were generally accepted as 



58 MIND AND BODY. 

preferable in therapeutics. Since then, more 
than ever, has the importance of suggestion been 
recognized and emphasized in hypnotic thera- 
peutics. 

Many other names might be mentioned of 
those who have contributed to the antecedents 
and the development of hypnotism, but space 
would fail us to mention them all. The attempt 
has been made, in this historical outline, to fol- 
low the links that form the direct chain of con- 
nection between, first, the primitive ideas, that 
certain men could exercise an influence over oth- 
ers, and that by certain manipulations peculiar 
psychical conditions could be developed ; and 
second, the later ideas, that combine these two 
ideas in the production of hypnosis, and the ex- 
planation that it is not induced by animal magne- 
tism or any mysterious personal force. 

It was thought that the material that must be 
used in the discussions that are to follow could 
best be introduced in their historical relations. 

It must be apparent to all that the importance 
of hypnotism is not confined to its therapeutic 
value, although that is very great. Psychology 
owes much and will owe much more, to hyp- 
notism. It has been said that hypnotism is to 
psychology what vivisection has been to physi- 
ology. The Society of Psychical Research, both 
the English and the American branches, are mak- 
ing great use of hypnotism. The importance of 



THE DEVELOPMENT OE HYPNOTISM. 59 

suggestion in social life is being emphasized as 
well as its uses in art and science. Theology has 
taken it up and is trying to find through it the 
correct explanation of religious experiences such 
as, conviction, conversion and the like. Edu- 
cators are also using hynotism as a means of 
developing backward children and have accom- 
plished wonders, in some instances, by its influ- 
ence. 

At the present time we find that there are three 
separate and distinct schools of hypnotism, 
namely, first, those who stick to the ancient be- 
lief in animal magnetic fluid, the mesmerists; 
second, those who believe in Charcot and follow 
his methods, the Salpetriere school, and third, 
those who believe in Liebault and follow his 
methods as practiced in his clinic, the Nancy 
school. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE METHODS OF HYPNOTIZING. 

The various theories that have been held — The several 
methods stated — Suggestion as a factor — Hypnosis 
a psychic state — Preparation of the subject — The 
operator's personal influence — Illustrative experi- 
ments — Fear and resistance — Verbal suggestion — 
Fixed gaze — The process explained — The com- 
bined method illustrated — Cooperation necessary — 
He does not wish to do it — Need of individualizing 
subjects — Some unusual methods — A case in point 
— From natural sleep to hypnosis — Importance of 
this method illustrated — Instantaneous methods of 
hypnotizing — Induction of somnambulism — He 
wanted "to hear music" — It is the expected that 
happens — Hypnotizing against the subject's will — 
Hypnotizing a subject without his knowledge — Who 
is hypnotizable? — Weak versus strong minds — 
Methods of dehypnotization — A student's predica- 
ment — Unintentional suggestions — The hypnotee is 
never unconscious — Special directions — Points that 
should be emphasized. 

Hypnotism has reached its present scientific 
position through a tedious evolution. Like 
every other science, it has had to struggle for 
existence, and only after a hard fight has it re- 
ceived due recognition. In its various stages of 
development, widely differing theories have been 
held as to its nature, the methods of inducing its 
states and producing its phenomena. 

These have been pointed out, but it remains to 

61 



62 MIND AND BODY. 

explain and illustrate them, for upon them de- 
pends its successful therapeutic application. 

Each of the several schools of hypnotism has 
its methods; the mesmerists claim that the op- 
erator exerts a personal influence over his sub- 
jects, and they use passes and magnets, but this 
influence is denied by the other two schools. The 
Salpetriere school uses sudden, sharp, sensorial 
shocks. The Nancy school uses slight, pro- 
longed, sensorial stimuli. They both succeed, 
so it is fair to conclude that hypnotic states may 
be induced (i) by sudden, strong, sensorial stim- 
ulation, as a bright light or a loud sound ; (2) by 
slight, prolonged, sensorial stimulation, as a 
light touch or a low, monotonous sound. 

However, the influence of suggestion must 
not be overlooked, for it is a factor second to 
none in the production of induced sleep. When 
the subject expects to be hypnotized, his mind 
contributes to the success of the operation, and 
he the more readily falls into the hypnosis. Hyp- 
nosis is a psychic state similar to natural sleep. 

It is essential to prepare the subject's mind be- 
fore attempting to hypnotize him, precisely for 
the reason that it is a mental operation. Luys 
well said : "The hypnotizer is nothing ; the hyp- 
notized subject everything." Without the con- 
scious co-operation of the subject, failures will be 
frequent. The operator should explain the sim- 
plicity of the operation ; clear it as much as pos- 



THE METHODS OP HYPNOTIZING. 63 

sible of all mystery, minimize its dangers, and 
emphasize its benefits. After having removed all 
fear and resistance from the mind of the sub- 
ject, he should place him in a comfortable posi- 
tion and have him thoroughly relax body and 
mind and become passive. 

Now, we are ready to begin, but must not 
hurry. It is often wise to spend the first visit in 
getting acquainted ; this is especially true if the 
subject is a stranger. It gives his mind time to 
prepare for the hypnosis. 

It has been hinted that the personal influ- 
ence is of small account, but in one sense this is 
far from true. While it is true that the operator 
does not possess a peculiar "power," it is not 
true that his influence is unimportant. It is all 
important that he should be able to win the con- 
fidence of his subject and make him believe that 
he can do what he is about to attempt. Every- 
thing depends upon the effects produced upon 
the subject's mind, and the best operator is he 
who can most easily convince his patients that 
what he says is true, and what he predicts will 
happen. His experience brings self-confidence, 
but suggestion is the power and not a personal 
force or fluid, as claimed by the mesmerists. Con- 
fidence is contagious. 

The importance of thus carefully preparing the 
patient will be appreciated by physicians when it 
is borne in mind that the results obtained in the 



64 MIND AND BODY. 

first treatment will exert a marked influence 
upon all future rsults. Fear and resistance, either 
conscious or unconscious, will often prevent suc- 
cess. An uncomfortable position may have the 
same effect. As little things hinder natural sleep, 
so do they interfere with the induction of hyp- 
nosis. 

Having prepared the subject mentally and 
physically, we begin by assuring him that he is 
resting comfortably and will soon go to sleep. 
Have him close his eyes and rest passively and 
then talk to him in a monotonous tone of voice 
somewhat as follows : 

"You are now thoroughly relaxed in mind 
and body, and are going to sleep. It is easy 
to go to sleep. All one has to do is to let go of 
everything and drift, drift, drift into sleep, sleep, 
sleep. You are becoming very sleepy; your 
eyelids are very heavy, and soon you will be 
sound asleep, asleep, asleep. You do not plainly 
hear what I say, and I do not want you to. Just 
let yourself drift, drift, drift into a sound, sweet 
sleep, sleep, sleep. Breathe deeply and regularly. 
Now you are asleep ; your eyes are fast shut ; the 
lids are so heavy that you cannot open them. 
You will remain asleep until I tell you to 
awaken." 

Now place your hand lightly on his forehead, 
or your fingers upon his eyelids, and assure him 
that he is sleeping soundly and comfortably; 



THE METHODS OP HYPNOTIZING. 65 

that he is happy and having a good rest and will 
be greatly refreshed by it. Keep up these sug- 
gestions for five minutes or longer and he will 
fall into an hypnosis, more or less profound, and 
be ready for the curative suggestions. 

Take another subject and place him in the 
same comfortable position, wholly relaxed and 
passive. Turn him toward the light and direct 
him to look into one of your eyes. Stand so 
that your eye will be a little above the line of his 
vision and about seven inches from his eyes. 
Having to look up at that angle will soon tire 
his eyes, which will aid in impressing the idea of 
sleep. Before or while he looks into your eye, 
tell him what he is to expect; namely, that his 
eyes will soon blur ; he will not see distinctly, and 
then that his eyelids will become heavy and 
close, and he will go fast asleep. 

What you predict will happen. His eyes will 
blur, the lids will become tired and heavy; they 
will make a few long winks and then close and 
remain shut, and the probability is that he will 
fall into an hypnosis. When the eyelids have 
closed place your fingers lightly upon them and 
keep them closed for a few moments, lest his 
efforts to open them should arouse him and cause 
him to wake up. Then, with your hand lightly 
laid upon his forehead, give a slight downward 
pressure upon the eyebrows and assure him that 
it is impossible for him to open his eyes. He 



66 MIND AND BODY. 

will try and probably fail to open them. Now, 
he is hypnotized and suggestable. 

The process is simple and is easily explained. 
It is a physio-psychologic phenomenon. The 
blurring of the vision and the heaviness of the 
eyelids are due to strain and are physiologic. 
The falling into the hypnotic sleep is due to the 
adoption, by the mind, of the suggested idea of 
sleep and is psychologic. 

A combination of the above methods is better 
than either of them alone and will succeed in al- 
most every case. 

Place your subject in the usual comfortable 
position in an easy chair or on a sofa and instruct 
him to relax, bodily and mentally, and become 
passive and unresisting. Then have him look 
into your eye, as described above, and at the 
same time talk to him in a monotonous tone of 
voice, somewhat as follows : 

"You are now thoroughly relaxed, passive and 
unresisting. You are resting comfortably and 
will soon fall into a quiet, restful sleep. My 
talking to you will not annoy you ; it will aid 
you in going to sleep. Your eyes will soon blur 
and you will see indistinctly, your eyelids will 
become tired and heavy and they will have to 
wink and will finally close and you will go to 
sleep. You do not see distinctly and your eye- 
lids are becoming very heavy ; they have to wink, 
and now, they are closing. Let them close ; they 



THE METHODS OF HYPNOTIZING. 67 

are tired and you are sleepy. That is right. I 
will place my fingers upon them, so, and help you 
to go to sleep. You are very sleepy, so sleepy 
that you could not keep awake if you should try, 
but you will not try, for you are too sleepy and 
want to go to sleep. You are drifting away into 
a quiet, restful sleep, sleep, sleep ; restful, peace- 
ful sleep, sleep, sleep. Nov/, you are asleep and 
you will sweetly rest; perfectly relaxed in body 
and mind; nothing will disturb you until I tell 
you to wake up." 

If he has cooperated with you the subject will 
now be in an hypnosis and amenable to sugges- 
tions. If told that he cannot open his eyes, he 
cannot, and if his arm is raised and he is told 
that he cannot lower it, he cannot. Perhaps it 
should be explained here that the reason for this 
inability lies in the co-operation just mentioned ; 
it has now become so complete that he adopts 
your suggestions as his own. He cannot do it 
simply because he believes he cannot and does 
not and perhaps cannot will it. In the common 
form of expression of many subjects, he does not 
wish to do it. As a matter of fact, he could and 
would resist suggestions that were very distaste- 
ful, possibly, by returning to his normal state, as 
will be fully explained later. 

The methods described will usually succeed in 
producing hypnosis, but it is necessary to indi- 
vidualize our subjects and adapt the method to 



b» MIND AND BODY. 

the subject. It is a good plan to find out what 
the subject knows of hypnotism and how he ex- 
pects it will be applied in his case, and then, if 
practical, adapt the method to his notions. It 
will save time and insure success. If he expects 
you to hold his hands, hold them; if he must 
have his forehead rubbed, rub it; if he wants to 
look at a bright object, furnish one; if he needs 
passes, make them, and so on ad libitum. 

No method of hypnotizing is the method. 
What succeeds with one fails with another. It 
must be borne in mind that the subject really 
hypnotizes himself; you are simply aiding him. 
As soon as he has learned how, he can do it him- 
self without assistance. It is largely a matter of 
education, as will be explained when discussing 
the symptoms and states of hypnosis. 

In some instances special care and unusual 
methods are needful. Let me illustrate by de- 
scribing the method adopted with a lady patient, 
brought to me from another city. She was an 
hysterical subject; excessively nervous and very 
skeptical of the value and the possibility of the 
use of hypnotic suggestion in her case. I let her 
tell her tale of woe. I showed my interest and 
expressed my sympathy and then explained what 
I expected to do for her. By this time we were 
pretty well acquainted. She was anxious "to try 
to be hypnotized/' but I advised her to wait un- 
til the next day, ostensibly because she was tired 



% 



LETHARGY. — See Page 93. 



THE METHODS OF HYPNOTIZING. 71 

from her jojurney, but really because I wanted 
her to have time to think the matter over and be 
mentally prepared. 

The next day I saw her and this is what we 
did: I had her lie comfortably upon a couch, 
facing the light, with body and mind relaxed and 
her hands resting the one upon the other over 
her stomach. Then I confidently assured her 
that she would soon go to sleep if she faithfully 
followed my directions. This she promised to 
do. After seating myself comfortably on an easy 
chair beside the couch, I placed my hand upon 
her hands, grasping them both, and told her to 
close and open her eyes as I dictated, "close," 
"open/' in a monotonous tone of voice. I grad- 
ually lengthened the time between the words, so 
that her eyes were closed most of the time. 

In a few minutes success crowned my effort 
and the lady lay placidly asleep and ready to re- 
ceive the therapeutic suggestions which were 
afterward given with most gratifying results. 

Another expedient is that of inducing hypnosis 
when the subject is in a natural sleep. I have in 
mind several instances. One, that of a young 
lady, a trained nurse, who had for a couple of 
months attended a hypnotic clinic at a school 
of psychology. She assured me that she was not 
hypnotizable, which seemed to be true in the 
waking state. 

She came to me one day for relief from a se- 



72 MIND AND BODY. 

vere toothache. I put a pledget of cotton satu- 
rated with an anaesthetic mixture into a cavity 
found in the tooth and bade her lie down on the 
couch, where she soon fell asleep. Observing 
that she was asleep, I went and quietly seated my- 
self upon a chair beside the couch and placed my 
hand lightly upon her forehead, speaking to her 
in a gentle tone of voice at the same time. In a 
few moments she became accustomed to my 
presence and I assured her that she would not 
wake up until I bade her do so, but that she 
would hear and obey all that I said to her. This 
she did, and afterward was susceptible to the 
ordinary methods of hypnotizing. 

Another case which greatly interested me was 
that of a lady physician in whom I had been un- 
able to induce a state of somnambulism, al- 
though she was willing and anxious to be a som- 
nambule. I tried many times only to fail each 
time. 

One day while she was in a light state of hyp- 
nosis I left her for a few minutes and upon my 
return found her in a profound natural sleep. I 
resolved to attempt to change the natural sleep 
into an induced one and set to work to that end. 

I sat quietly near her for a little while and 
then gently insinuated myself into her attention 
by first touching and then speaking to her. In a 
few minutes she began to respond to suggestion. 
Her arm remained elevated, when I raised it, 



THE METHODS OP HYPNOTIZING. 73 

and she felt cold when I suggested that she was 
cold. In short, she speedily passed into a state 
of active somnambulism. Thereafter it was pos- 
sible to induce this state whenever it was de- 
sired. 

Many times I have been able to induce pro- 
found hypnoses in subjects who were unable to 
go into them from the waking state by operat- 
ing upon them while asleep. 

Changing natural into induced sleep is of im- 
mense importance, for it furnishes a means of 
treatment far reaching in its possibilities. It is 
easily accomplished, as is well shown by the case 
recited above. It is only necessary to accustom 
the sleepers to your presence by sitting near 
them for a little while, and then secure their at- 
tention by gentle insinuations. Light touch and 
gentle speech will usually serve to secure the 
sleeper's attention. 

A person who is used to having someone in 
the room while sleeping is easier to hypnotize by 
this method than one who is accustomed to room 
alone. The reason for this lies in what is called 
rapport ; the person in natural sleep is in rapport 
— in touch — with himself and is dominated by 
autosuggestions ; the person in induced sleep or 
hypnosis is in rapport — in touch — with the oper- 
ator and is dominated by heterosuggestions. The 
transfer of rapport is accomplished by securing 
the attention of the sleeper and thus insinuating 



74 MIND AND BODY. 

heterosuggestions into his mind instead of the 
autosuggestions controlling it. A person un- 
used to the presence of another while asleep is 
likely to be awakened by a sudden suggestion, 
for the reason that the heterosuggestion will 
conflict sharply with the autosuggestions of the 
sleeper. 

These experiments prove the intimate relation 
of natural and induced sleep, and show that the 
difference is simply a matter of rapport or atten- 
tion. 

Methods which secure an instantaneous hyp- 
nosis have purposely been omitted from this dis- 
cussion for the sufficient reason that they are, for 
the most part, injurious to the subject. We have 
no excuse for using dangerous methods with 
our patients ; if there is any question we should 
give the patient the benefit of the doubt. The 
methods described will suffice for the proper, 
practical application of hypnotic suggestion to 
the cure of diseases. The successful operator 
will rarely, if ever, need any others. Mention has 
been made of the various other methods in anoth- 
er connection. More is not necessary. 

The induction of somnambulism is simple, but 
can only be accomplished in persons who fall 
into profound states of hypnosis. 

After the subject has learned to pass readily 
into a deep hypnosis, and readily accepts inhib- 
itory suggestions, that is, cannot open his eyes 



THE METHODS OF HYPNOTIZING. 75 

or lower his raised arm when told that he cannot, 
he is ready for the somnambulic experiments. 
This state should be reached gradually while the 
subject has his eyes closed. The induced sleep 
is easily changed into somnambulism because 
the sleeper is in touch with the operator and has 
become accustomed to adopting his suggestions. 
The change is brought about by making pro- 
gressive suggestions. Somewhat as follows: 
First, suggest visions or dream pictures; after- 
ward, sounds, as music and the like; then, the 
sensation of heat and cold ; have the subject 
acknowledge that these suggestions have been 
realized, and lastly, assure him that he can open 
his eyes, but that he will not wake up until com- 
manded to do so. He will slowly open his eyes. 
He is now in the somnambulic state, the mys- 
teries of which will be fully explained in another 
chapter. 

That this transition may be quite plain, let me 
illustrate it by an actual experiment. One of my 
students wanted "to hear music when hyp- 
notized." After inducing a deep hypnosis I pro- 
ceeded as follows : 

"You are soundly sleeping and will dream. 
You are dreaming. Dreaming of the old home 
where you lived when a boy. The grass, the 
trees and the old house are all unchanged. Let 
us go inside. This is the parlor. It is summer, 
the window is open and we can hear the birds 



76 MIND AND BODY. 

singing in the trees outside. It is all very beau- 
tiful, isn't it? You can speak ; answer me. You 
saw it, did you not?" 

"Yes," he lisped, with some effort. 

"Good; you will now open your eyes, but will 
remain asleep," I said. 

He opened his eyes and looked at me. I hand- 
ed him my watch with the suggestion that it 
was a music-box, and he heard any music he 
asked for. 

One thing must be plain to all by this time, 
namely, that expectation on the part of the sub- 
ject is indispensable to all methods of hypnotiz- 
ing and all of the phenomena produced. What 
the subject expects is what happens. The most 
expert operator will exert himself in vain unless 
the subject knows that he is being hypnotized 
and yields his consent. Just what constitutes 
consent is a question. It must, at least, mean 
surrender. This may be unwilling, but it must 
be based upon the belief; first, that he is hyp- 
notizable, and second, that the operator is able 
to do it. However, intelligent resistance is al- 
ways successful in preventing hypnosis. 

From what has been said it naturally follows 
that the possibility of hypnotizing a person with- 
out his knowledge is exceedingly doubtful. In 
the same category falls the possibility of hyp- 
notizing from a distance. If either of these feats 
is possible it must be through the agency of tel- 



THE METHODS OF HYPNOTIZING. 77 

epathy, which is not yet sufficiently understood 
or developed for general practical use. The cases 
that have been reported in support of these 
theories are, to say the least, unsatisfactory, and 
seem to depend upon the subject's knowledge of 
the proposed experiment and expectation of the 
result. It is easy to hypnotize at a distnce when 
the subject knows the time of the experiment; 
it is just as easy to explain how it is accom- 
plished, namely, what the subject expects is what 
happens to him. 

Theoretically, all persons of sound health are 
hypnotizable, but practically thev are not. No 
satisfactory reason, based upon either mental or 
physical conditions, can be given for these ex- 
ceptions ; perhaps they simply serve to prove the 
rule. It would be a waste of time to discuss the 
various theories, of which there are many. 

The old notion that only weak-minded per- 
sons are hypnotizable has long since gone by the 
board ; the reverse, certainly, is nearer the truth, 
for only a small percentage of the mentally un- 
sound can be hypnotized. The stronger the mind 
the better the subject, is the result of my experi- 
ence. 

Now that we recognize that suggestion sup- 
ported by attention play the principal parts in 
the induction of hypnosis it is quite natural to 
conclude that the same factors would explain 
how hypnosis is removed. This is true. By sug- 



78 MIND AND BODY. 

gestion the subject is hypnotized and by sugges- 
tion he is dehypnotized. The operator has the 
subject's attention and can change him from one 
state into another and in like manner can wake 
him up at will. 

When I have completed my therapeutic sug- 
gestions and am ready to awaken my patient I 
proceed as follows : 

"The suggestions I have given you with ref- 
erence to your illness will remain deeply fixed 
upon your mind. You have had a pleasant, rest- 
ful nap, and are about to wake up. You feel 
comfortable and happy and will wake up when 
I count three. Ready, one, two, three. You 
are awake ; open your eyes." 

It should be borne in mind that the hypno- 
tized are never unconscious and that everything 
that the operator says and does acts as a sugges- 
tion to them. This explains how a timid oper- 
ator sometimes gets into trouble. One of my 
students hypnotized a fellow student and was so 
surprised and rattled by his success that he fool- 
ishly expressed his fears before the subject that 
he might not be able to wake him up. The sub- 
ject accepted the suggestion thus unconsciously 
given and would not be dehypnotized by any of 
the student's efforts. In great alarm they sent 
for me to adjust matters for them. 

Other cases have been reported, probably due 
to the same cause, where it has been apparently 



THE METHODS OF HYPNOTIZING. 79 

impossible to awaken the sleepers and they have 
slept for longer or shorter periods, to the terror 
of those concerned. These cases are very rare 
and never occur with intelligent persons, so need 
not concern those who understand the power of 
suggestions. 

It is good practice to say to the subject, when 
you are ready to have him wake : "You will wake 
up in two minutes feeling refreshed by your 
sleep." At the end of about two minutes he will 
wake up as from a natural sleep. 

If the awakening is not brought about by sug- 
gestion, and the operator leaves the subject to 
awaken spontaneously, he will invariably do so in 
a short time, unless ordered to remain asleep for 
a stated time. The awakening usually occurs 
soon, in some cases immediately, after the de- 
parture of the operator. As soon as the subject 
falls out of rapport with the operator he falls into 
it with himself. That is, he passes from an 
hypnotic sleep into a natural one and then awak- 
ens as usual from the natural sleep. 

Before leaving this topic let me emphasize a 
thing or two. It is wise, when a patient believes 
that the operator has a special "power," not to 
hasten to disabuse his mind. Hypnotize him 
first and explain afterwards, else it may be very 
difficult to hypnotize him. The reason is plain. 
Another thing, be careful that you do not fall 
into the same error. When you have induced a 



80 MIND AND BODY. 

suggestable state in and can dominate the sub- 
ject in thought, word and deed, do not think that 
you have done it by the superior strength of your 
mind. Nothing could be wider of the mark. 
The truth is best. Be not deceived, he did it 
himself. 



CHAPTER IV. 
THE PHENOMENA OF HYPNOSIS. 

Hypnosis defined — Relation to natural sleep — Classifi- 
cation of states and stages — Light and profound 
hypnoses — Illustrative instances — : Phenomena of 
hypnosis — Suggestibility — Inhibited and continued 
movements — Amnesia — Double consciousness — 
Hypnosis a state of increased suggestibility — Its ef- 
fects upon memory — Examples — Restoring mem- 
ories — Plays forgotten music — A false mem- 
ory may be induced — Suggestions by signs 
— Telepathy — Acuteness of senses — Symptoms 
peculiar to hypnosis — Lethargy — Catalepsy — Func- 
tional changes by suggestion — The classical phe- 
nomena — Effects upon the special senses — Post- 
hypnotic suggestions — Most favorable conditions 
for them — Renewed states of hypnosis — Like the 
irresistible impulses in the insane — Illustrative ex- 
periments — Post-hypnotic amnesia — An example — 
Hallucinations and sense delusions — Instances — 
Emotions affected — Change of personality — Uni- 
lateral hypnosis — Facial expressions — Experiments 
easily made. 

Hypnosis has already been defined as a psychic 
state similar to natural sleep, and it has been ex- 
plained that the only difference is a matter of 
attention or rapport. In natural sleep the sub- 
ject is in rapport with himself and attends to au- 
tosuggestions and in the induced sleep he is in 
rapport with the operator and attends to hetero- 
suggestions. This distinction is important and 

81 



82 MIND AND BODY. 

should be borne in mind as we proceed, for it 
aids greatly in our understanding of the phe- 
nomena of hypnosis. It now remains to give in 
some detail the various states and phenomena of 
the induced sleep. 

There are almost as many classifications of the 
states of hypnosis as there have been writers up- 
on the subject, and this would seem to show that 
it is not an easy thing to make a satisfactory 
classification of them. Classifications often ob- 
scure a subject; to be helpful a classification 
should be simple and complete. The states of 
hypnosis have been studied from the earliest rec- 
ognition of induced sleep, but since each subject 
is a law unto himself it has been difficult to arrive 
at any uniform conclusions. However, all writ- 
ers recognize two grand divisions or classes of 
the states of hypnosis, namely, light states and 
profound states. This is the division made by 
the early writers on the subject which they de- 
scribe "grand et petit hypnotisme." While some 
of the more elaborate classifications have some 
merit, it is thought that this simple one will be 
best for our purpose. 

Each of these states of hypnosis admits of sub- 
division into different grades. There is a group 
of light states and a group of deep states ; for in- 
stance, a light state of hypnosis is any state 
which leaves the subject's mind more or less re- 
tentive of the experiences undergone during the 



THE PHENOMENA OF HYPNOSIS. 83 

hypnosis, and likewise, any hypnosis which 
leaves the mind forgetful of the experiences un- 
dergone during the hypnosis is a deep or pro- 
found state. A line of demarkation between the 
two groups is furnished by amnesia or forgetful- 
ness of the experiences undergone during the 
hypnosis. And yet, it must be borne in mind 
that this line may be greatly varied by both auto- 
suggestions and heterosuggestions. 

This simple division of the states of hypnosis 
into light and deep groups will facilitate our dis- 
cussion of the subject and aid in making it quite 
plain. To this end let me cite a couple of typi- 
cal cases. 

A lady much interested in things psychical 
wanted me to hypnotize her so that she might 
experience the sensations accompanying the 
induction of hypnosis. I consented, and in a few 
moments her eyelids closed and she could not 
open them when I told her they were stuck fast. 
Then I raised her arm and told her she could 
not lower it. She tried to do so, but failed. Then 
she began to laugh and said : 

"I really cannot put it down, but my mind is 
perfectly clear and I can hear and I know per- 
fectly all that is going on around." 

I then liberated her arm and afterward 
told her to open her eyes. After her eyes 
were open I told her to revolve her hands the 
one around the other. This she did, and I then 



84 MIND AND BODY. 

assured her that she could not stop them, and 
she could not. She remembered all that had 
happened during the hypnosis. This was a light 
hypnosis. 

After a public lecture, one evening, a young 
lady twenty-three years of age, a stranger to me, 
presented herself to be hypnotized. I had her 
sit in an easy chair and then gently stroked her 
temples, and at the same time looked into her 
eyes. In less than one minute her head fell to 
one side, a tremor passed over her body and she 
fell into a quiet sleep. I assured her that she 
was having a comfortable sleep and that she 
would neither hear nor feel anything until I 
told her to awake. Then her friends tried to 
wake her, by calling to her and vigorously shak- 
ing her, but she remained sweetly unconscious of 
all their efforts. While thus asleep I told her 
that I wanted her to arise in her place at the 
dinner table the following evening and make a 
statement to the ladies — she was boarding at a 
woman's club — and that she would think of it 
when she picked up her knife and fork. I said : 

"Say to them, 'The doctor is no fraud; he 
knows what he is talking about.' " 

I then dehypnotized her and she had no mem- 
ory of what occurred during the hypnosis, but 
she faithfully performed her task the next even- 
ing to the great surprise and amusement of *he 



THE PHENOMENA OF HYPNOSIS. 85 

members of the club. This was a profound hyp- 
nosis. 

The phenomena of hypnosis are so numerous 
that it is difficult to decide what to give and what 
to leave out of a brief discussion — only a few 
characteristic examples can be given at most. 
The phenomena are usually grouped into two di- 
visions, namely, the physiologic and the psy- 
chologic. While this grouping is convenient as 
an aid in discussing the subject, it must not be 
forgotten that the phenomena are all due to the 
action of the mind and so in a strict sense are all 
psychic. It is only in the results that the two- 
fold classification is permissible, and these vary 
according to the suggestions given to the sub- 
ject. 

Suggestibility is the most constant and by far 
the most important factor in hypnosis, and while 
all persons are more or less suggestible in the 
waking state, it is found that hypnotism is the 
means by which suggestibility is increased. Sug-"^ 
gestibility is simply a receptive condition in the 
subject in which impressions are made upon the 
mind. An inordinate condition of impressibility 
becomes a disease, as will be fully explained in 
another connection. In short, suggestibility fur- 
nishes the opportunity and the means for the pro- 
duction of all of the phenomena of hypnosis. / 

In the light states of hypnosis the phenomena 
are limited chiefly to inhibited and continued 



86 MIND AND BODY. 

motions with a few sense delusions. I have in 
mind a subject, one of my students at the med- 
ical college, who will serve as a good illustration 
of this. 

When hypnotized he retains all of his wak- 
ing mental faculties but is open to all sorts 
of suggestions. If, for instance, I stretch out his 
arm and cause the hand to describe a circle and 
tell him it will go on doing so, he goes on revolv- 
ing it like a machine. If I say : "The other arm 
will rise to a level with the shoulder and then 
describe a circle in the opposite direction," up it 
goes and around it goes. If I assure him that 
he cannot keep his mouth shut, it immediately 
opens. When I tell him he must sneeze, cough, 
laugh or weep he is obliged to do so. His arm 
or leg is paralyzed, and hangs limp and useless, 
by a word. After he is dehypnotized he remem- 
bers all that occurred during the hypnosis and 
declares that he could not resist the suggestions. 
As all of the phenomena of light states are also 
found in the profound states, it is unnecessary to 
give more than this single example before we 
pass on to the consideration of the cases in 
which forgetfulness follows the hypnosis. 

Amnesia furnishes one of the strongest argu- 
ments in favor of double consciousness, of which 
we shall have something to say later on. This 
loss of memory furnishes an important factor in 
many of the phenomena of hypnosis. And yet, 



.*■'$■;*■;.■.■■•■-- 






CATALEPSY —See Page 93 



THE PHENOMENA OF HYPNOSIS. 89 

no matter how completely the subject seems to 
have forgotten the occurrences of an hypnosis, 
when rehypnotized he is able to recall every de- 
tail. By some it is claimed that the forgetful- 
ness is not a loss of memory, but that the subject 
is just playing a part. To my mind this is far 
from true. In many cases it is certain that the 
subject is not willingly playing a part and that 
he makes an honest effort to recall the memories. 
The memories are in the mind, but they are 
removed from the reach of the waking con- 
sciousness. That the operator can make the sub- 
ject recall them proves nothing except that the 
subject is still in a suggestible state. The dis- 
gust, not to say anger, of many subjects when 
told of what they have been compelled to do 
while hypnotized ought to be of some evidential 
value. 

That a person can be made to do more in 
hypnosis than in the normal state goes without 
saying, else the whole theory of hypnotism is 
wrong. Hypnosis has been defined as a state of 
increased suggestibility in which the subject can 
be the more readily influenced and the whole sys- 
tem of hypnotic therapeutics depends upon this 
increased suggestibility ; if it does not exist the 
whole system is a fallacy. The increased sug- 
gestibility furnishes the opportunity for various- 
ly influencing the mind and shows that the deep- 
er the hypnosis the more marked are the results ; 



90 MIND AND BODY. 

in other words, the subject's susceptibility varies 
directly as the depth of the hypnosis. Many ex- 
amples might be given to show the influence of 
suggestion on the memory. Subjects mav be 
made to lose the memory of any period of their 
lives, or of any experiences, or of any historical 
data. When told that they have forgotten their 
names they cannot speak them. According to 
Forel and others it is possible to make a person 
forget entirely a language he has learned. 

While considering the subject of memory it 
should be stated that a suggested increase of 
memory is followed by most striking results. 
Doubtless this is partly due to the concentration 
of the subject's attention, but it must be partly 
due to an increase in mental power. The effect 
of hypnotic suggestion in increasing the reten- 
tive powers of natural memory are marked, and, 
in my experience, has been most beneficial. In 
one case, that of a young girl that was under 
treatment for stammering, I obtained most grat- 
ifying results. She learned several long poems 
by reading them over two or three times. The 
effects in several cases in weak memory that have 
come under my notice have been pronounced. 
Vincent reports the following case : 

"A youth, aetat. 20, complained of the extreme 
difficulty which he found in remembering dates 
and the comparative positions of localities. In 
less than a week he was able to remember a 



THE PHENOMENA OP HYPNOSIS. 91 

whole page of dates after two or three readings, 
and this increase of faculty was permanent/' 

In some cases it appears that it is possible to 
obtain in hypnosis the recollection of things long 
forgotten. The subject will recite poems learned 
in childhood and long lost to memory. I have 
in mind a young musician that could play many 
pieces of music when in hypnosis that he was un- 
able to play when awake. More than that, he 
could improvise when in hypnosis. He told me 
one day that he had a piece of music nearly com- 
posed, but that there were difficulties in uniting 
the several movements that he could not over- 
come. A few days later I hypnotized him and 
then said to him : "Listen ; I will play over your 
composition for you and afterward you shall play 
it for me." He listened attentively for some 
minutes and then turned to me and said : "Yes, 
that is all right, but I did not know that you 
could play." Then he played it through with- 
out a fault, and, on suggestion that he would, re- 
membered it after he was dehypnotized. 

A false memory may be induced by sugges- 
tion; the subject will give a full account of any- 
thing if the suggestion is given that he is able to 
remember it, but the recollection has no basis 
in fact. I said to one of my students : "We were 
at the theater last night and saw Mansfield play 
'Cyrano de Bergerac.' " "Yes," he replied, "it 
was a great play and a great nose." And he 



92 MIND AND BODY. 

laughed immoderately. This hypersuggestibility 
renders experimentation difficult and uncertain. 

Hypnotic memory has misled many experi- 
menters; for instance, when the subject is given 
a verbal suggestion to do something or maintain 
a certain position, the operator accompanies the 
suggestion with a touch or a motion; the subject 
remembers the touch or the motion and often 
responds, thereafter, to the touch or the motion 
without the accompanying words. The keen- 
ness of the subject in receiving and interpret- 
ing sign suggestions, other than words, furnishes 
an explanation of many of the wonders of the 
fakirs. These unintentional suggestions are the 
key to the solution of many of the phenomena as- 
cribed to thought transference. While thought 
transference or telepathy is undoubtedly a reality, 
it is enough if we give it its due and make rea- 
sonable discrimination in the matter. 

This acuteness of perception is shared by 
all of the senses and furnishes some of the most 
startling of the hypnotic phenomena. The hy- 
persensitiveness appears to be due to suggestion, 
and inhibition of the senses is as easily produced 
as acuteness. Indeed there do not appear to 
be many symptoms peculiar to hypnosis. It is 
found that new subjects, to whom no suggestions 
have been given, pass into a passive lethargic 
condition when hypnotized, and other than a 
few changes in facial expression, probably due 



THE PHENOMENA OF HYPNOSIS. 93 

to attention, the person in hypnosis does not dif- 
fer from the same person in natural sleep. In 
this respect hypnotic subjects are like other 
groups of individuals in that each one is an in- 
dependent personality and is a law unto himself. 
Moreover, it is the regular tendency of the hyp- 
notized to return to the state of lethargy as 
soon as the effect of a suggestion has worn off, 
and when he is required to perform another 
act he must be recalled from the state of pas- 
sivity. A few subjects fall into such an extreme 
lethargy that they are almost impervious to sug- 
gestions and appear to be in a deep sleep. They 
are limp and often slide from their seats to the 
floor in a bunch. The reverse of this lethargy is 
found in suggested catalepsy. Every muscle is 
thoroughly contracted and the body is absolute- 
ly rigid. So great is the rigidity that the body 
may be suspended from one chair to another and 
sustain an enormous weight without bending. 
A person, by no means athletic, has sustained my 
full weight without apparent difficulty or harmful 
results, while in that position. 

In passing, attention should be called to the 
pronounced influences that may be produced by 
suggestion upon the functions of the organs of 
the body, especially the pulse rate, the 
respiration and the temperature of the body. 
The heart may be made to beat fast or 
slow; the respiratory rhythm may be changed; 



94 MIND AND BODY. 

and in like manner the temperature and all of the 
involuntary functions of the body may be pro- 
foundly influenced. Many instances of patho- 
logic changes have been noted and reported. 

The classical phenomena of hypnosis are so 
well known that it is unnecessary to go into a 
detailed description of them, so only a few typical 
examples will be given to illustrate to what ex- 
tent the senses may be affected by suggestions. 
They may be greatly increased or wholly sup- 
pressed. An example of the former is found in 
Charcot's well-known experiment. A package 
of blank visiting cards are prepared as follows : 
one card is withdrawn and shown to the hyp- 
notized subject with the suggestion that upon it 
is the portrait of a well-known person, it is then 
marked upon the reverse side and mixed with the 
other cards. The package of cards is then 
handed to the subject with the request 
that he find the portrait, which he readily 
does. The explanation of this experiment is 
found in the subject's hyper-acuteness of sight 
which detects a difference in the cards not ob- 
served by ordinary vision and enables him to 
select the right card. Subjects in the waking 
state are rarely able to perfom this feat. Close 
inspection shows that no two cards are exactly 
alike, there are always present the "points of 
recognition" about which the picture is formed. 
That it is a real portrait to the subjects seems 



THE PHENOMENA OF HYPNOSIS. 95 

certain for they often complain that it is wrong- 
side up when it has been changed. 

All of the senses are made equally keen; a 
subject will hear a whispered word and recog- 
nize the person's voice at an incredible dis- 
tance; he will recognize the object handled by 
different persons by the sense of smell. Carpenter 
tells of an hypnotic subject who found the owner 
of a glove among sixty other persons by the 
sense of smell. He can detect the flavor of 
foods where a person in the waking state would 
fail to recognize the presence of any flavoring. 
It is easy to make experiments along this line and 
it is well worth the while. This delicacy of cer- 
tain organs of sense is known to be normal in 
many animals, and the same keenness has been 
attained by human beings in some instances. 

Suppression of sensibility is very important, 
especially in the production of anaesthesia, which 
we shall have occasion to refer to in another 
chapter, but a few other examples should be 
mentioned in this connection. The special 
senses may be suppressed so that strong am- 
monia can be held under the subject's nose with- 
out his evincing any sign of discomfort; strong 
onions liberally covered with cayenne pepper will 
be eaten with pleasure ; candles and soap will be 
acceptable dainties, and Scotch snuff will not 
cause sneezing or watering of the eyes. 

Post-hypnotic suggestions are suggestions giv- 



96 MIND AND BODY. 

en during hypnosis to be carried out at some fu- 
ture time, or at a given signal, after the subject 
has been dehypnotized. These are very import- 
ant, as they explain the action of suggestions in 
the cure of disease, as will be explained in due 
time. By post-hypnotic suggestions the senses 
and states of the body may be affected in the 
same way that they are affected in hypnosis and 
the chief dangers in the use of hypnotism lie in 
this aspect of the subject. Post-hypnotic sug- 
gestions often carry in the lighter states of hyp- 
nosis but are never so sure or irresistible as those 
given in the deeper states. However, they fur- 
nish a good opportunity for the study of the 
mind in post-hypnosis ; the subject can better ob- 
serve its action in them. Post-hypnotic sugges- 
tions come upon the subjects as irresistible im- 
pulses to do the things ordered by the operator, 
and, as in the irresistible impulses of the insane, 
they are not satisfied until the deed is done. This 
marked similarity explains why some writers 
have called hypnosis a form of madness. 

The range of these post-hypnotic suggestions 
is very wide and that they may be used for evil 
as well as good is certain ; however, the dangers 
are usually greatly overstated. A few experi- 
ments will best illustrate this group of phe- 
nomena. 

A young man in hypnosis was told that 
he would, when the clock struck the hour, 



THE PHENOMENA OF HYPNOSIS. 97 

select a boutonniere from the bouquet upon the 
mantle and present it to the handsomest lady in 
the room. He was then awakened. As the 
clock was striking the hour he went to the man- 
tle and selected the flowers and went in search 
of his sweetheart, who was present. As he 
passed me I said to him : 

"Those are paper flowers ; you would not pre- 
sent them to a lady, would you?" 

He examined the flowers and smelled of them 
and then threw them upon the floor. This case 
illustrates two points, namely, that the subject 
responds immediately upon receiving the ap- 
pointed signal, and that he is suggestable during 
the carrying out of the post-hypnotic suggestion. 
That is, the subject is thrown into a new hyp- 
nosis which lasts so long as he is performing his 
task. 

It has been noticed that subjects who have 
performed their tasks without interruption are 
usually unconscious of having performed them 
and will often deny that they have moved from 
their chairs, although it might have required 
considerable time for them to carry out the sug- 
gestion. When asked in the midst of the per- 
formance why they are doing the task they seek 
some natural reasonable excuse, but never 
charge it to an hypnotic suggestion. They are 
at times much worried by not knowing why they 
did the thing. For instance: An intelligent 



98 MIND AND BODY. 

German lady, twenty-eight years of age, who at- 
attended a meeting at my rooms for the study of 
hypnotism was hypnotized and given a post hyp- 
notic suggestion. I said to her : 

"To-morrow when you return to your room 
after dinner you will go to your shopping-bag 
and find the address of a lady and write a letter 
to her and post it at once." The address was put 
into the bag while she slept. "Tell her that you 
will be pleased to meet her at my rooms next 
Saturday at 3 o'clock p. m." 

When awakened she had no recollection of 
what she had been directed to do, but the next 
day, which was a Sunday, she did exactly as di- 
rected, wrote and mailed the letter. She remem- 
bered having written the letter and nearly made 
herself sick worrying over it. On Monday morn- 
ing she came to me greatly alarmed and de- 
clared that she was going insane because she had 
done such a dreadful thing. When I explained 
to her how it happened she was greatly relieved. 
It will be observed that subjects carry out the 
suggestions first and reason afterward, if they 
think of them at all. Sometimes a battle occurs 
between the reason and a powerful suggestion; 
the victory depending upon the naturalness * of 
the suggestion on the one side and the suggesti- 
bility of the subject on the other. 

Hallucinations and sense delusions are com- 
mon in hypnosis and afford another most inter- 



THE PHENOMENA OF HYPNOSIS. 99 

esting group of phenomena, but only a few of 
them will be noticed. The following case will 
serve to illustrate a number of these phenomena. 

A young lady while hypnotized was told that 
we were at a menagerie and she at once filled in 
the mental picture with animal cages, snake 
cases and the like, peopled with their usual oc- 
cupants. When told that one of the large snakes 
had escaped from its case and was approaching 
her she saw it and evinced a lively terror. Her 
eyes and mouth wore typical expressions of ex- 
treme fright as it approached her. We made our 
escape and continued our visit to the circus. My 
companion was informed that we had reached 
the ring tent and asked what she saw, to which 
she replied : 

"There is the ring and the clown is in it ; such 
a funny little fellow." 

"How is he dressed?" was asked. 

"In wide pantaloons, a short jacket and a 
fool's cap; they are all made of white material 
spotted with red, and his face is painted to match 
them in white and red." 

"Is he alone in the ring?" 

"No, there comes a horse with a dog upon 
his back," she answered. 

"What is your funny little clown doing?" was 
asked. 

"Oh, he is just standing upon a box holding 
a hoop for the bushy little dog to jump through. 



100 MIND AND BODY. 

See him ! There he goes ! The dog has jumped 
through the hoop and torn all of the paper out 
of it." And she broke out into a merry laugh. 

"Watch the clown/' she was directed. "What 
is he doing now?" 

"He is still standing upon the box," she said. 

"Listen, he is going to sing," was suggested. 

"Oh, he is singing now," she said. 

"What is he singing?" 

"I don't know." 

"Oh, yes you do ; just listen and you will 
know," was ordered. 

"So I do. He is singing 'Just Tell Them That 
You Saw Me.' " And she clapped her hands 
and burst into a ripple of laughter. 

"Now watch him and tefl us what he does 
next," was commanded. 

"That is an awfully wobbly box he is stand- 
ing on. There, he has fallen through it." And 
she laughed again. 

"It is a pasteboard box. He is taking it off 
over his head, and now he has it off." 

She rattled on, but a word served to banish 
all ideas of the circus and she was back in my 
rooms again. 

The emotions may be played upon like a string 
instrument and affected in any degree. A pa- 
thetic story will cause the tears to well up into 
the eyes and trickle down the cheeks and the 
person will often fall to sobbing. A funny story 



THE PHENOMENA OF HYPNOSIS. 101 

or a humorous suggestion will send the same 
person the next moment into a fit of merriment. 
These emotions are very real to the subject while 
they last, as is shown by the following case : 

One of my subjects, with whom I was but little 
acquainted, was given the suggestion that her 
mother was in the room and a certain lady point- 
ed out as the mother. The subject immediately 
arose and ran to and embraced the supposed 
mother and fell to weeping upon her neck. The 
experience was so real and affecting that she had 
to be at once liberated from the suggestion. An- 
other subject, a young doctor, was given the sug- 
gestion that he was in the trenches facing the 
Spaniards in Cuba in Spanish-American war. 
He at once accepted the suggestion and fell into 
such a frenzy of rage as could hardly be seen off 
of a battle field. It was something fearful to 
behold. 

One Christmas day I was persuaded to hyp- 
notize a young lady who was home from the con- 
vent for her holidays. While hypnotized I had 
her go to the piano and sing her favorite song ; it 
was splendidly rendered. A good somnambule 
can sing better when hypnotized than when 
awake. She was then told that it was Christmas 
and that it was at that time that the angels came 
to the earth which the shepherds saw and heard. 
The suggestion was then given that on Christ- 
mas angels come to the earth and that 



102 MIND AND BODY. 

they were about to appear to her and she would 
hear them sing. 

"Now open your eyes," I said. "Look up into 
that corner of the room, they are coming." 

She opened her eyes and saw them. 

"Listen and you will hear them sing," she was 
instructed. 

"I can see one very plainly; she is singing a 
solo; the others are behind her and join in the 
chorus," she said. 

The wonder expressed in her eyes was beauti- 
ful to see. A suggestion was given that she 
would remember what she saw after she woke 
up and she did, but did not remember that she 
had sung for us. She was able to describe every 
detail of their appearance in dress, in face and 
form. She told of the arrangement of the white 
robes they wore, and even noticed that one had 
a mouth like a rosebud. 

Change of personality is possible in most som- 
nambulists. That is, by a suggestion the sub- 
ject may be transferred into another person or 
even into an animal, and he will accept the 
change and act out the part perfectly until re- 
called to his own personality by another sugges- 
tion. Very interesting and amusing experiments 
have been made along this line. 

A young railroad man of unusual intel- 
lectual ability was given the suggestion 
that he was the mayor of the city. He 



THE PHENOMENA OF HYPNOSIS. 103 

was told that he had called an informal meet- 
ing of the city council and that the aldermen 
were all present and waiting to hear him. He 
was formally introduced as his honor the mayor, 
and it was announced that his honor would out- 
line his policy with regard to certain franchises 
that had been asked of the city by several cor- 
porations. Pie arose and in a dignified manner 
and impressive speech expressed himself upon 
the subject. Nor did he make any mistakes in 
his deductions from his changed personality. 
When asked he said he did not enjoy being 
mayor; there was too much responsibility. He 
said: 

"Besides, I am afraid for my life lest some 
fanatic will shoot me as Pendergast did my fath- 
er. I have two detectives follow me wherever 
I go." 

One class of curious phenomena remains to 
be mentioned, namely, those of unilateral hyp- 
nosis, in which two expressions are seen upon a 
single face at the same time. It is produced by 
giving different suggestions to the opposite sides 
of the body. For instance, in one ear a sad story 
is whispered, producing an expression of sad- 
ness upon that side of the face, and in the other 
ear a humorous story is whispered, producing an 
amused expression upon that side of the face. 
Thus we have at the same time joyful and sad 
expressions in the face of the subject. The same 



104 MIND AND BODY. 

results may be induced by post-hypnotic sug- 
gestion. I said to one of my subjects : "When I 
tie a knot in my handkerchief you will remem- 
ber what I am about to tell you." Then I whis- 
pered in his right ear: 

"It is raining; you will be unable to play oall 
to-day." And in the left ear I said: "It is a 
fine, bright day for your ball game." 

Then I awakened him and talked with him 
some time upon various subjects. After nearly 
half an hour I tied the knot in my handkerchief. 
He noticed it and looked out of the window and 
the two expressions of joy and disappointment 
immediately appeared upon his face, one on each 
side. 

It would be interesting to give more of the 
experimental phenomena of hypnosis, but it is 
thought that enough has been given to give a 
fairly correct idea of their character. Those 
wishing to make a systematic study of the sub- 
ject are referred to theoretical works, of which 
there are enough and to spare. 



CHAPTER V. 
THE THEORY OF SUGGESTION. 

The importance of the subject — Psychic power — Men- 
tal medicine — The various systems of the same — 
Christian Science — Mind Cure — Faith Cure — Spirit 
Cure — Mesmerism — Suggestive therapeutics — The 
underlying law — A question of psychology — Dual 
nature of mind — Consciousness — An illustration — 
What the physiologists claim — Proofs of double 
consciousness — In the waking state — Dream-con- 
sciousness — Induced subconscious states — Several 
classical cases — Pathologic double personality — The 
amenability of the mind to suggestion — "Playing 
a trick" — Manner of increasing suggestibility — The 
subconscious mind suggestible — The functions, sen- 
sations and states controlled by the subconscious 
mind — Power of mind over the body — The law of 
suggestion— An illustration of the same — The Great 
Physician — The value of faith — The necessary con- 
clusion. 

Psychical research is making rapid progress 
and the whole world is waiting with interest for 
every item of new data, but in the .whole range 
of psychologic investigation there is nothing of 
such transcendent interest to the world to-day 
as the relation of the mind to the cure of dis- 
ease. 

That there is a psychic power within man 

which presides over the functions, sensations and 

conditions of the body and that this power may 

be directed at will, under certain conditions, for 
7 107 



108 MIND AND BODY. 

the relief of the manifold ills of mankind there is 
no doubt nor need of proof. If proofs were need- 
ed it would suffice to call attention to the hun- 
dreds of "healers" and the army of those who 
have been healed to be found upon every hand. 
These are real cures and just as well authenticat- 
ed as those found in the reports of cases cured 
by drug medicines. Many systems of cure, all 
producing most positive proofs of their efficacy, 
have been founded upon these facts, but they 
have as many theories of causation and as many 
methods of application as there are different 
curative systems. 

Mental medicine is broader than hypnotic 
therapeutics, it is as broad as the curative action 
of the mind over the body. Up to this point we 
have been occupied with the study of hypnotism, 
but now we must pause a little to consider psy- 
cho-therapeutics in general and discover if pos- 
sible the rationale of mental therapeutics. 

Psychopathic healing includes many schools, 
each subdivided into various sects, but for the 
present purpose it will be sufficient to call at- 
tention to a half dozen of the more prominent of 
them, namely, christian science, mind cure, faith 
cure, spirit cure, mesmerism and hypnotism. 

Christian science, which is just now receiving 
a pretty thorough advertising in connection with 
the death of the novelist, Harold Fredric, and 
several others, claims that the body is unreal, 



THE THEORY OP SUGGESTION. 109 

and that the mind is all, therefore disease has no 
existence except in the mind and should be ig- 
nored and denied. They persuade many to be- 
lieve this fallacy and show many persons who 
have been cured by their treatments. 

Mind cure makes a similar statement. It says 
"all diseases are conditions or states induced by 
abnormal conditions of the mind," and the advo- 
cates claim that these states and conditions of the 
mind together with the diseases incident to them 
may be and often are corrected by the power of 
the healer's mind. 

Faith cure is based upon the belief that reli- 
gious faith will save man from sin and sickness 
and says that belief in and prayer to God will 
secure relief from pain and the cure of diseases. 
They point to those who have been healed and 
triumphantly exclaim in the words of the Mas- 
ter, "By their fruits ye shall know them." 

Spirit cure is founded upon the supposition 
that the shades of the departed dead can and do 
"come back from the spirit world" and through 
some "medium" give relief to the sick and com- 
fort to the afflicted. And many are willing to 
testify that some "big Indian chief" or "little 
Indian squaw" or some other shade, through a 
"medium," has cured them of distressful dis- 
eases. 

Mesmerism teaches that there resides in man a 
subtle fluid of healing nature which may be pro- 



110 MIND AND BODY. 

jected, at the will of the operator, upon another 
person with the effect of curing the functional 
and organic diseases of his body, and from the 
time of Mesmer until the present marvelous 
cures have been made. 

Suggestive hypnotism furnishes a power by 
which persons may be placed in a condition of 
induced sleep or hypnosis. While in that state 
it is claimed that they are suggestible and may 
be given suggestions that will relieve them from 
pain and cure their diseases. Many profess to 
owe their good health to this system of therapeu- 
tics. 

The above brief summary shows that there are 
a considerable number of different systems of 
psycho-therapeutics based upon as many wide- 
ly different theories, each presenting indubitable 
evidence of its ability to perform cures, many of 
which appear almost miraculous. But they ac- 
knowledge only one thing in common, namely, 
that they all cure diseases. However, it requires 
only a superficial study of them to discover that 
there must be a common underlying principle or 
law upon which they all operate. 

Now, since all curative phenomena produced 
by psychic influence, under whatever name they 
occur, must depend upon the same fundamental 
law it is of the utmost importance that this law 
should be discovered, that we should find and re- 
cognize the law of psycho-therapeutics. It is 



THE THEORY OP SUGGESTION. Ill 

plain that the law must depend upon the consti- 
tution of the mind, so we must turn to psychol- 
ogy for the key to the solution. 

Fortunately hypnotism has recently come to 
our assistance, enabling us to better understand 
the constitution and action of the mind. It has 
revealed, among other things, first, the dual na- 
ture of the mind, and, second, the amenability of 
the mind to suggestion. Some intimations o£ 
these peculiarities had been observed in certain 
trance and other spontaneous conditions, but it 
remained for hypnotism to fully establish them. 
Hypnotism is of great aid to students of psy- 
chology and its revelations will doubtless over- 
throw many of the older doctrines of psycholo- 
gists. 

It is thought that the two facts just mentioned, 
namely, the duality of the mind and its amen- 
ability to suggestions, furnish an explanation of 
the principles underlying all of the psycho-cura- 
tive systems or the law of mental medicine. It 
seems possible to justify these facts as we shall 
now attempt to show. 

The duality of the mind is not a new idea, but 
it has recently received new emphasis. The 
separate action of the two hemispheres of the 
brain is not what is meant, although that is pos- 
sible, as is shown by the phenomena of unilateral 
hypnosis which has already been explained. 
There is a duality in the sense that the 



112 MIND AND BODY. 

mind possesses two distinct sets of func- 
tions, with a double consciousness, operat- 
ing more or less independently. This du- 
ality of the mind would seem to be proven 
if the existence of the dual consciousness 
with separate memories can be demonstrated, 
namely, the primary or waking consciousness 
and the secondary or subconsciousness. The 
usual distinction made between these is that the 
first includes all knowledge obtained by the aid 
of the five senses and reason and the second in- 
cludes all knowledge gained through intuition 
and immediate perception. 

The physiologists, Carpenter and others, re- 
cognized two kinds of mental activity. The un- 
usual kind, not belonging properly to the con- 
scious phenomena, they called "unconscious 
cerebration" for want of a better term. These we 
now know as the subconscious phenomena of the 
mind. There are no unconscious activities of 
the mind for the very essence of mind is con- 
sciousness. These are subconscious/but not un- 
conscious phenomena. Many of the subconsci- 
ous phenomena never rise above the floor of or- 
dinary consciousness. 

Consciousness may be illustrated by two cir- 
cles, the smaller one within the other, both hav- 
ing a common center. The smaller circle repre- 
sents the ordinary consciousness for the waking 
consciousness contains only a small part of our 



THE THEORY OP SUGGESTION. 113 

whole conscious activity. The subconsciousness 
is represented by the larger circle, for it con- 
tains all that is in the smaller circle and much 
more that lies beyond the limit of its circumfer- 
ence. 

The double aspect of the mind is observed also 
in its blending with the physical and spiritual 
realms; the mind through the senses and rea- 
son adjusts itself to its physical environment and 
through the intuition and immediate perception 
reaches its spiritual environment. 

The very latest statements of physiology em- 
phasize this duality, although strangely enough 
many of the physiologists stick to the old ma- 
terialistic explanations. Vincent, in a chapter 
upon the ''physiology of hypnosis," reaches the 
following conclusion : "Thus there seems to be 
in the human nervous organism a dual nervous 
action, one automatic and intuitive, the other ra- 
tional, volitional and deliberative." 

A detailed discussion would be out of place 
here, but it can be easily shown that there is 
abundant evidence to prove that the theory of 
double consciousness is well founded. Three 
groups of phenomena are urged as proofs, name- 
ly, spontaneous, induced and diseased states 
of the mind, in which subconscious activities are 
observed. Let us examine examples of each. 

In the normal states these subconscious phe- 
nomena are seen in such actions as are common 



114 MIND AND BODY. 

in the so-called "unconscious cerebrations" and 
the ''automatic and intuitive nervous activities," 
where the mind performs two acts at once, as 
adding up a column of figures while carrying on 
a lively conversation. Such actions require the 
conscious employment of two separate trains of 
memory in their performance, but we have only 
one conscious memory, hence the other must be 
subconscious. 

The phenomena of dreams and spontaneous 
somnambulism point in the same direc- 
tion, for sleep is not merely an absence of 
waking activity, but it is a phase of personality 
with distinctive characteristics. What has been 
said of the intimate relationship between sleep 
and hypnosis will serve to emphasize this state- 
ment. The actions and movements of somnam- 
bulists prove that they are not automata, in- 
deed they often perform most complicated ac- 
tions which would be impossible without con- 
sciousness, and yet, after awaking they usually 
have no conscious memory of the actions. A pa- 
tient of mine, a young lady, was accustomed to 
arise and dress herself at night while asleep and 
walk about the house and only knew that she had 
been sleep-walking when she awoke in the morn- 
ing and found herself in bed fully dressed. 

The induced subconscious states are found in 
hypnosis and they go far to prove the duality 
of the mind. The phenomena of hypnosis have 



TEE THEORY OF SUGGESTION. 115 

been given in some detail and may be referred 
to, so they need not be repeated. It will suffice 
to mention the well-known case of Mrs. B., re- 
ported by Professor Janet : 

"Madam B., a natural somnambulist from childhood, 
has for the last few years been under the constant 
observations of M. Pierre Janet, professor of philos- 
ophy at Havre. In her normal state Leonie is an or- 
dinary peasant woman, serious, a trifle heavy, placid 
and retiring. When hypnotized, she wakes up to an- 
other existence; she now calls herself Leontine; her 
whole aspect changes; she becomes bright and lively 
and not seldom recalcitrant to suggestions, and shows 
powers of humor and sarcasm. Of her waking self she 
says, 'This good woman is not me, — she is much too 
stupid.' Leonie, the first, is a Roman Catholic; 
Leonie the second is a confirmed Protestant — she has 
adopted the religious views of her early hypnotizer. 
In a word, Leonie, the first, is an ordinary French 
peasant; Leonie, the second, is a woman of the world, 
able to hold her own in polite society, with a circle of 
friends and a varied experience of which Leonie, the 
first, has no knowledge whatever." 

Some writers say that the double personality 
of hypnosis proves too much, for not only two 
but several personalities may be evoked. Care- 
ful observation, however, shows that these ap- 
parent personalities of hypnosis with their mem- 
ories tend to run into one, the primary hypno- 
tic personality and memory, and are undoubtedly 
due to unintentional suggestions of the operator. 



116 MIND AND BODY. 

If we bear in mind the hyper-acuteness of the 
subject this will be readily understood. 

Many examples of pathologic double person- 
ality are on record. Let me cite the one reported 
by Dr. Azam, which is a typical illustration of 
such cases : 

"Up to the age of fourteen, Feiida X. was quick, 
industrious, somewhat silent, remarkable chiefly for a 
varied assortment of pains and ailments of hysterical 
origin. One day, when engaged in her regular occu- 
pation of sewing, she suddenly dropped off to sleep 
for a few minutes, and awoke a new creature. Her 
hysterical aches and ailments had disappeared, she had 
changed from gloom to gaiety, from morose silence 
to cheerful loquacity. Presently, Feiida slept again, 
and awoke to her usual taciturnity. Asked by a com- 
panion to repeat the song she had just been singing, 
she stared in amaze — she had sung no song. In brief, 
all the incidents of that short hour between sleep and 
sleep were as though they had never been. In a day 
or two the same sequence was repeated, and so on 
day by day, until her friends learned to look for and 
welcome the change, and her lover grew accustomed 
to court her in the second state. In due course of time 
she married; and as time went on, the second state 
came to usurp more and more of her conscious life, 
with only short intervals of recurrence of her normal 
condition. In her first or normal state she retained 
the remembrance of those things only which had come 
to her knowledge when in the normal state, but the 
memory of the second, or abnormal, state embraced 
her whole conscious life." 

Sometimes it is impossible to blend the two 
personalities into one so that the memories will 



THE THEORY OF SUGGESTION. 117 

be continuous as could be done in the case of 
Felida X. Professor William James, the psy- 
chologist, reports such a case in his text-book. 
The Rev. Ansel Bourne of Greene, R. L, fell 
into what appeared to be a spontaneous hypno- 
tic trance, persisting for two months. As the 
case is undoubtedly perfectly genuine and impor- 
tant^ a part of it will be told in Mr. James' words : 

"He is of a firm and self-reliant disposition, a man 
whose yea is yea, and his nay nay; and his character 
for uprightness is such in the community that no per- 
son who knows him will for a moment admit the pos- 
sibility of his case not being perfectly genuine. 

"On January 17, 1887, he drew $551 from the bank 
in Providence with which to pay for a certain lot of 
land in Greene, paid certain bills and got on a Paw- 
tucket horse-car. This is the last incident which he 
remembers. He did not return home that day, and 
nothing was heard of him for two months. He was 
published in the papers as missing, and foul play being 
suspected, the police sought in vain his where- 
abouts. On the morning of March 14th, however, 
at Norristown, Pennsylvania, a man calling himself 
A. J. Brown, who had rented a small shop six weeks 
previously stocked it with stationery, confectionery, 
fruit and small articles and carried on his quiet trade 
without seeming to any one unnatural or eccentric, 
woke up in a fright and called the people of the house 
to tell him where he was. He said his name was Ansel 
Bourne, that he was entirely ignorant of Norristown, 
that he knew nothing of shop-keeping, and that the 
last thing he remembered — it seemed only yesterday — 
was drawing the money from the bank, etc., in 
Providence. He would not believe that two months 



118 MIND AND BODY. 

had elapsed. The people of the house thought him 
insane; and so at first did Dr. Louis H. Read, whom 
they called in to see him. But on telegraphing to 
Providence confirmatory messages came, and pres- 
ently his nephew, Mr. Andrew Harris, arrived upon 
the scene, made everything straight and took him 
home. J He was very weak, having lost apparently over 
twenty! pounds of flesh during his escapade, and had 
such a I horror of the idea of the candy store that he 
refused! to set foot in it again. 

"Thetfirst two weeks of the period remained unac- 
counted-for, as he had no memory, after he had once 
resumed \his normal personality, of any part of the 
time, andVno one who knew him seems to have seen 
him after he left home." 

Hypnotism was used as a means to secure the 
memory of his second personality and he read- 
ily told of his "Brown" existence, but while hyp- 
notized could not remember any of the events 
of his normal life. He did not recognize his 
friends and declared when Mrs. Bourne was pre- 
sented to him that he had "never seen the woman 
before." Mr. James concludes : 

"I had hoped by suggestion, etc., to run the 
two personalities into one, and make the mem- 
ories continuous, but no artifice would avail to 
accomplish this, and Mr. Bourne's skull to-day 
still covers two distinct personal selves." 

These classical cases have been cited because 
they carry great evidential value, coming as they 
do from such distinguished and competent ob- 
servers. The reports of many similar cases are 



THE THEORY OF SUGGESTION. 119 

easily accessible and may be studied by any one 
who wishes to investigate the subject. Surely 
evidence is not lacking to prove beyond a rea- 
sonable doubt that the human mind contains a 
double consciousness with two separate trains 
of memory. 

The amenability of the mind to suggestion is 
so commonly accepted that it is only necessary 
to state the fact, but a few illustrations will serve 
to emphasize it. The suggestibility of the mind 
is found in the waking state, in hypnosis, and in 
pathologic states. 

All persons are more or less suggestible in 
the waking state. Many interesting facts illus- 
trating its influence are familiar to all. Perhaps 
no better example could be found than the oft- 
repeated experiment of "playing a trick'' on a 
person by telling him that he is sick. The other 
day it was tried upon a man noted for his good 
health, by several of his office mates. He was 
told by each in turn at short intervals that he 
was "looking badly" and he "must be ill and 
the like, all of the forenoon. The result was that 
he went home ill early in the afternoon. 

While the suggestibility of the mind is con- 
siderable in the waking state, induced sleep or 
hypnosis is the suggestible state. Hypnotism is 
the pass-key that admits us to the study of the 
mind, and it is through it that we have obtained 
the most positive proofs of the law of suggestion. 



120 MIND AND BODY. 

It has not only demonstrated the suggestibility 
of the mind, but has also shown that it is the sub- 
conscious mind that is suggestible. 

The susceptibility of the hypnotized subject is 
phenomenal and almost unlimited in certain di- 
rections. It has been shown that speech, music 
and signs all have marked suggestive influence 
over such subjects. Sad music like a sad story 
will make them sad and tears will well up into 
the eyes and course down the cheeks. Comic 
pictures, like humorous stories or lively music, 
will send them off into fits of merriment; their 
personalities may be changed by a word, sug- 
gest that they are other persons and they will 
accept it and comport themselves accordingly. 

Certain diseased conditions as hysteria furnish 
further evidence of the impressibility of the mind 
if more were needed, but it is thought that 
enough has been given to abundantly establish 
the fact, moreover, a full discussion will be giv- 
en in another connection. 

Together with the control of the mind by sug- 
gestion another important fact appears, namely, 
the functions, sensations and states of the body 
are under the control of the subconscious mind. 
The fact that the functions, sensations and states 
of the body are beyond the control of the will 
leads us a long way toward certainty that they 
are under subconscious control, for thev must be 
under the control of either the one or the other. 



THE THEORY OF SUGGESTION. 121 

It would be absurd to say that they are not con- 
sciously controlled in the light of recent demon- 
strations. It is well known that these functions, 
states and sensations may be changed and con- 
trolled at will in subjects who are in hypnotic 
subconscious states. Any one who will can read- 
ily prove all that is here stated. In this induced 
state the voluntary and involuntary actions are 
easily controlled and the sensations varied as 
desired. 

The action of the heart may be depressed or 
accelerated, and the character of the respiratory 
rhythm altered as desired. The temperature of 
the body may be increased or lowered. The 
functional activities of the liver, kidneys, stom- 
achs, intestines and the other organs may be af- 
fected at will. In short, not only functional but 
organic diseases may be producel by hypnotic 
suggestion. The power of the mind over the 
body is in keeping with its growth and develop- 
ment, for every cell in its complex fabric is placed 
and controlled by mind processes, therefore it is 
not surprising that organic changes have been 
and may be produced by suggestion. 

Therefore, since the functions, sensations and 
conditions of the body are controlled by the sub- 
conscious mind and the subconscious mind is 
controlled by suggestion, it is plain that the de- 
rangements of these bodily functions and states 
may be corrected by suggestions. 



122 MIND AND BODY. 

We are now prepared to understand the 
way in which cures are effected by sug- 
gestions and are not surprised to find that 
suggestion is the principle underlying psychic 
healing. It is easy to show that all cures 
effected by the various systems of mental 
medicine must find their explanation in this law 
of suggestion. A law must be universal in its 
application and the law of suggestion seems to 
be broad enough to cover and explain all of the 
cures resulting from the various psychologic 
systems. 

This is the way suggestion operates : A recep- 
tive state of mind is induced in the patient, the 
suggestion is given that he will soon be well, 
he believes that he is about to be cured, and his 
mind determines the result and he is cured. It 
is plain that it is faith or belief that is the con- 
necting link that completes the circuit of cura- 
tive power. There is a law which appears to be 
almost without exception, namely, that what a 
person expects is likely to appear in him wheth- 
er it be physiologic or psychologic. 

This is the way the various cures operate : 
A man who has been ill for a long time becomes 
dissatisfied with the treatment of his attending 
physician in whose hands he has possibly suf- 
fered many things, and dismisses them. He 
hears of a "healer' and decides to consult him. 
The "healer" explains his system and assures the 



THE THEORY OF SUGGESTION. 125 

patient that he can cure him. The patient is con- 
vinced, pays the fees and passively submits to 
the treatment. The result is prompt, he feels 
better after the first application and soon fully 
recovers his health. Now this is what has hap- 
pened in this case, namely : He believed, he be- 
came passive, he received curative suggestions 
and his mind determined the result. All of these 
cases may be shown to be simply suggestive 
treatments. They do not result from any merit 
in the "cure," but from their belief in it. In like 
manner belief is the key-note in all of the psycho- 
curative systems, for it furnishes the opportunity 
to make the curative suggestions. 

The Great Physician used to say, "According 
to your faith be it unto you," and "Thy faith hath 
made thee whole," and again, "He could there do 
no mighty works (healing) because of their un- 
belief." Paracelsus recognized the same law 
when he said : 

"It is faith which gives power, unbelief is a 
destroyer. Whether the object of your faith be 
real or false you will nevertheless obtain the same 
effects. Faith produces miracles and whether it 
is true or false faith it will always produce the 
same wonders." 

These statements and many others like them 
from recent writers explain how it happens that 
systems with such widely differing doctrines and 
methods have all secured such marvelous results. 



126 MIND AND BODY. 

They have succeeded in winning the confidence 
and inspiring the faith of their followers and in 
giving the suggestions which have determined 
the mind in producing the cures. 

It seems plain that the conditions and process- 
es of all psychopathic healing are essentially the 
same. The conditions are states of receptivity or 
suggestibility and the processes are the making 
of the needful curative suggestions to the pa- 
tients. That these conditions and processes have 
been induced and given unwittingly is rather 
confirmatory than otherwise of the universality 
of the law of suggestion. The law of mental 
healing will be progressively more appreciated as 
it is better understood and more used. 



CHAPTER VI. 

SUGGESTION IN THE WAKING STATE. 

The sphere it occupies— Three methods of application 
— Discussion based upon personal experience — 
Psychic healing — Two important laws — Credulity — 
Tendency of the expected to happen — Hypnotism, 
an illustration — Morphine habit, an illustration — 
Drug action — A story^or a joke, which? — Value of 
diagnosis — What the journals say — Drugs needful 
— A surgeon's testimony — Diseases caused by sug- 
gestion — Nervous shocks — An extreme case — Sug- 
gestive therapeutics — Power long used — Confidence 
in the physician — Unconscious use of psychic forces 
— Glimpses of a great truth — Intelligent application 
— Laity and mental medicine — No fixed rules in 
psychic treatment — The bondage of custom — Hope 
and happiness are helpful — Methods found useful — 
A remarkable case — A little encouragement — Nerv- 
ous prostration — Grief kills, joy cures! — The direct 
method — Value of repetition — A young doctor's 
case — Convinced by a trial of it — Treatment be 
suited to the individual. 

The application of suggestion to the cure of 
disease exalts it to its highest sphere of useful- 
ness. Its importance in therapeutics is consid- 
erable as will appear as we discuss the several 
modes of its practical application in healing. 

It seems advisable to discuss these three meth- 
ods separately as follows : 

1. Suggestive treatment in the waking state. 

2. Suggestive treatment in the normal sleep, 
and 

127 



128 MIND AND BODY. 

3. Suggestive treatment in the induced sleep 
or hypnosis. 

This plan affords an opportunity to make the 
subject of suggestive therapeutics plain to all 
readers. Many psychologic questions will occur 
to your minds as you read as they occur to me 
as I write, but I cannot turn aside to consider 
them now ; let us stick to our text. 

As in the previous chapters the discussion will 
be based upon personal experience and every 
effort will be made to make the discussion plain 
and simple. To that end I shall repeatedly have 
to refer to what I have accomplished and that not 
to foster any vanity of mine but rather to help, 
and, if possible, satisfy your need. 

It has been shown that all persons are more or 
less suggestible in the waking state. An at- 
tempt will now be made to justify those state- 
ments and illustrate their application in therapeu- 
tics. Let us consider, first, the power of sug- 
gestion in its effects upon the mind and body, 
and, second, the application of the power as a 
therapeutic agent. 

There are two laws of almost universal appli- 
cation which aid greatly in the understanding of 
the application of suggestive therapeutics. The 
first is the tendency of all persons to believe what 
has not been demonstrated or, in short, credulity ; 
the second is the tendency of a physiologic or 
psychologic effect to appear in man if he expects 



SUGGESTION IN THE WAKING STATE. 129 

it. Only a few illustrations will be given of these 
laws now, for they will be emphasized by the 
discussions which are to follow presently. 

Persons who claim that men are not credu- 
lous have not kept their eyes open to observe 
what is going on about them. There is no man 
who does not believe more than has been logi- 
cally proved to him. Dogmatic statements are 
often believed because of their dogmatism. If 
this is so with adults it is much more so in chil- 
dren. There is a gate into every mind where 
such ideas may enter, and constant repetition 
drives them through it. How many have reli- 
gious experiences based upon logical conclu- 
sions ? 

This credulity is shown by the subject we are 
studying. A few years ago it was believed that 
there was no such thing as hypnotism and that 
those who believed it were deceived, but since 
then opinion has wholly changed. The state- 
ments made by competent observers have com- 
pletely changed public opinion, and that, not be- 
cause it has been demonstrated to them but sim- 
ply because they have constantly heard and read 
the same statements concerning it until they 
have been forced to believe. 

The tendency of an expected effect to appear 
in a man is as universal as the law of credulity. 
Any number of examples may be seen in daily 
life and it is important that we should recognize 



130 MIND AND BODY. 

them, as depending upon this tendency, for it will 
furnish the solution of many otherwise mysteri- 
ous occurrences. 

Moll relates the following case of Carpen- 
ter's : A judicial disinterment was to be 
made; the grave was opened and the coffin 
raised ; the official who was present said that he 
already smelt putrefaction, but when the coffin 
was opened it was found to be empty. Here 
expectation caused a distinct sense perception. 

A patient who summoned me had been in the 
habit for sometime of having an hypodermic in- 
jection of morphia every night so that she might 
sleep. I knew she did not need it and resolved 
not to give it to her, but she was a new patient 
and I did not wish to offend her. So this is what 
I did : I went over at the appointed hour and 
gave her an hypodermic injection of pure water 
every night for a week and then I told her that 
she had had no morphia for a week and that she 
would need no more. 

If we expect to lie awake at night we lie awake 
and if we expect to go to sleep we go to sleep, 
but wanting to go to sleep is quite a different 
thing from expecting to go to sleep. 

This last example illustrates another impor- 
tant consideration, namely, that many drugs de- 
pend upon the same expectation for their action. 
A friend of mine told me this story as a joke 
upon himself: 



SUGGESTION IN THE WAKING STATE. 131 

"I felt that I needed a purging, so last evening 
I prepared what I considered a big dose, added 
the juice of a lemon to kill the taste, ook it and 
went to bed. I awoke early this morning and 
made several journeys to the bathroom before 
breakfast. Before coming down town I discov- 
ered that I had not taken the medicine at all. I 
put the lemon juice into the wrong glass and 
took that. This seems to prove your theory of 
the mind acting over the body, don't it?" 

Of course this is only true of drugs within 
certain reasonable limits. But it is true, and the 
value of drugs has depreciated in the minds of 
many eminent physicians on that account. The 
New York Medical Journal not long ago told of 
a celebrated hospital physician and teacher who 
told his students to pay much attention to diag- 
nosis and prognosis of disease. He was leaving 
the bedside of a patient, after a learned disserta- 
tion, without prescribing any treatment and was 
asked by the interne what he should give the 
patient. 

"Oh," said the physician, "a hopeful prognosis 
and anything else you please." 

The journals all contain positive statements 
with reference to the need of accompanying the 
prescriptions with the proper suggestions. Out 
of four journals which came through the mail to- 
day three had such statements as the following: 

"When I give medicine I always tell my pa- 



132 MIND AND BODY. 

tient how I expect the drug to act. This puts his 
mind on the medicine and the impression thus 
brought about will hasten the action of the same 
and the looked-for result will be more certain. 
A great many people can be treated successfully 
without medicine. For instance, some people 
wear lead or zinc rings to cure rheumatism ; oth- 
ers wear buckeyes around their necks or carry 
them in their pockets to cure piles and other dis- 
eases." — Medical Progress. 

I do not wish to be misunderstood in this con- 
nection. All know that drugs are useful, but 
many are ignorant of the value of suggestion, 
so I am trying to emphasize the latter fact. 
Many speak more strongly than I have done up- 
on this subject. An eminent surgeon said to me 
one evening last fall after hearing me read a 
paper upon the subject of "cures by suggestion" : 

"Doctor, you might have said much more than 
you did upon that subject. Suggestion is a mar- 
velous thing. I am not sure but that the sur- 
geon's knife acts chiefly as a suggestion in many 
cases. I have had cases myself, and read of 
many others, where a recovery has followed an 
exploratory incision." 

Undoubtedly many diseases are caused by sug- 
gestion as has already been instanced, but the 
subject deserves a few more words, for it should 
be well understood. The mind is the controlling 
power in man's material organism and its vary- 



SUGGESTION IN THE WAKING STATE. 133 

ing states are the causes of most of the body's 
conditions of health and disease. We often ob- 
serve the powerful effects of mental emotions 
upon the material fabric, and although we may 
not be able to explain their rationale we must 
admit that mental causes induce disease, retard 
recovery and destroy life. Few have form- 
ed an adequate estimate of the sum of 
the bodily ills which have their source in 
the mind. Disorders of the mind are fre- 
quently removed by pharmaceutical reme- 
dies which act upon the body; in like manner 
the diseases of the body as often require the aid 
of the psychic forces for their relief. We are 
prone to concentrate our attention upon the 
physical, often neglecting the mental, causes of 
disease and subject our patients to various un- 
availing drug treatments when "the true origin of 
the malady is some inward sorrow which a moral 
balm alone can reach." 

It is surprising how many of our patients, 
when asked for the beginning of their ailments, 
will trace them back to some mental cause and 
will say : 

"I have never been well since the death of my 
dear one," or 

"I have been nervous and ill ever since our 
home burned down," or 

"I have not been well since the railroad wreck 
several years ago," and a thousand similar state- 



134 MIND AND BODY. 

ments. These chronic diseases of psychic origin 
are the ones in which the various systems of 
psychic healing have ever had their successes and 
through which they have gained their consider- 
able followings. That they have done good none 
can doubt, but unfortunately they have done 
much evil as well. 

I hope I have made it plain that the mind ex- 
erts a mighty influence over the bodily func- 
tions and conditions, for I must pass to the con- 
sideration of the possibility of directing this force 
as a therapeutic agent. However, before I pass 
on I will call attention to an extreme but well- 
known case. A criminal under death sentence 
was given over to some physicians for experi- 
mentation, it being agreed that they were not to 
torture him. They said in his presence : "We will 
bleed him to death." Then they placed him on a 
cot, blindfolded him and scratched his bared arm, 
not drawing blood, and let a stream of warm wa- 
ter run over it and splash noisily into a basin by 
the side of the cot. Then they stood by and 
talked to each other about him. 

"Will he live long?" 

"How pale he is getting/' 

"He is sinking fast." 

"He is almost gone." 

"Yes, now he is dying." 

And he died, believing he was being bled to 
death, although not a drop of blood was shed. 



SUGGESTION IN THE WAKING STATE. 135 

What more need be said to emphasize the power 
of the mind over the body ? 

Physicians have long unconsciously used this 
power, as is shown by their careful directions 
concerning the care of the sick. They order 
quiet, cheerful surroundings and a hope inspiring 
atmosphere in general. Moreover, they seek to 
win the confidence of their patients and thus se- 
cure the co-operation of their minds in the treat- 
ment. No one can secure ideal results without 
this confidence and co-operation and the wise 
physician will advise the calling of someone else 
when he knows his patient does not believe in his 
ability to effect a cure. It may be seen by all 
that those who are the most successful are the 
physicians who use either consciously or uncon- 
sciously these psychic forces in their treatment. 
The almost miraculous cures effected by the 
various "cures" are undoubtedly due to the un- 
conscious use of the action of the mind over the 
body and when it is recognized that many of 
these persons were relieved from diseases which 
the usual medicinal treatment had failed to heal 
we are justified in giving it a high place in our 
therapeutics. 

It must be clear to all by this time that psychic 
power has been much used in the treatment of 
disease, although it has been for the most part 
an unconscious use. Now and then, through 
the centuries, a favored mortal has caught a 



136 MIND AND BODY. 

glimpse of the great truth of psychic healing and 
has used it and has immediately been stigmatized 
a charlatan. How much better it is to do things 
consciously and intelligently ! It is a pleasure to 
do good, but it is a much greater pleasure when 
we understand how we do it. This is precisely 
our position with psycho-therapeutics. Many 
know that they can do good with it, but do not 
know how it operates. It is my desire to aid in 
an understanding of this point by stimulating 
investigation. 

The use of suggestion in the waking state is 
so simple that it is often overlooked and misun- 
derstood. All mystery falls away from it after 
a little study. It is surprising how sensible the 
laity are in their notions of mental influence. 
Call it by a simple name and explain the impor- 
tance of proper environment and you will be 
met more than half way by your patients and 
their friends. We have fallen on times when all 
men are wanting to know about things psychic 
and the physician or teacher who does not in- 
form himself on the subject is likely to lose pres- 
tige with his friends and clients. 

No fast, fixed rules can be laid down for the 
application of this method of treatment ; indeed, 
it is a method that at present can seldom be 
used alone, although it will often be the chief 
agent in the cure of our patients. Mankind is 
not free from the bondage of custom and usage. 



SUGGESTION IN THE WAKING STATE. 137 

We have too long and too implicitly depended 
upon material medicines to suddenly break away 
from them. Many object to the small doses of 
homoeopathy for this very reason, but the time 
will come when the intangible and impalpable 
things will command more respect. What has 
been said will aid us in the understanding that 
suggestive treatment in the waking state consists 
simply in securing the aid of the patient's mind 
in curing his disease and any means that will se- 
cure that aid may be used. However, it appears 
that expectation or hope coupled with a firm be- 
lief in the agency used are all that are required 
beyond a favorable condition of environment. 

The idea of a cure should be instilled into the 
patient's mind until hope and expectation are 
born, then belief in the means used inspired un- 
til it lays hold of the patient like the belief in 
Lourdes in a good Catholic. The manner of do- 
ing this must always depend upon the patient 
and the physician. The ability to do this is the 
''gift of healing" of which we read, for it is a 
natural endowment; doctors are like poets, they 
are born, not made. Some members of our pro- 
fession would better be in other business for the 
benefit of humanity. 

"There must be a mutual understanding and 
confidence between the physician and the pa- 
tient," said a sensible layman. "The latter must 
deliver himself up passively to the former, who 



138 MIND AND BODY. 

ought to be worthy of the confidence reposed in 
him." 

Perhaps the methods I have found most use- 
ful may be better illustrated than explained, so I 
will recite a few instances to that end. 

Just now I recall the case of a little girl of 
eleven summers in which a most pronounced and 
remarkable result followed this sort of treat- 
ment. When the mother came to see me she de- 
scribed her illness substantially as follows : 

"A little more than two years ago Ethel had 
a fever and seemed quite ill for several days, but 
she was not kept in bed and no doctor was called. 
After this illness the child began to follow me 
around and I could not go out of her sight. Then 
she began to do everything that I did and touch 
everything that I touched. She insisted upon 
sitting upon the same kind of a chair that I did 
at meals and eating the same kinds of food that 
I ate, from the same sort of a plate with the same 
kind of knife, fork and spoon. If she was crossed 
in any of these things and other similar notions 
she would have a regular tantrum, and go into 
convulsions, often falling into fainting fits from 
which we feared she would not recover. At 
night before going to bed she has to go about 
and touch everything that she knows that I will 
touch before she wakes in the morning; she 
touches the stove lifter, the tea kettle, the coal 
hod and even has to light a match because she 



SUGGESTION IN THE WAKING STATE. 139 

knows that I light one when I build the fire. We 
have done everything we could to get her out 
of these notions, for we thought they were just 
notions, but without success. We whipped her 
and scolded her and shamed her in vain. We 
have consulted several prominent physicians who 
prescribed for her, but she has steadily gotten 
worse rather than better. She is fragile and has 
always been delicate since infancy, but has never 
had any severe illness." 

The treatment, which was rather unusual and 
experimental with me at that time, was as fol- 
lows: When calling at the patient's home on 
business with her father I got acquainted and 
made friends with her. Then a few days later I 
called again to see her. She had in the meantime 
said that she liked that doctor and wished he 
would cure her so that she would be as other 
girls and could go to school. This was told me 
by the mother, and I asked the child if she 
thought that I could cure her. She answered 
"Yes," and I promised to do so, and told her to 
ask her mother to bring her over to my office 
to get the medicine that would cure her. About 
a week later, after the child had asked repeatedly 
to be brought to me, and had as often declared 
that she was sure that I could cure her, the moth- 
er brought her to my office and I gave her a 
blank medicine. 

Hypnosis was not induced, but care was taken 



140 MIND AND BODY. 

when the medicine was delivered to her, to make 
positive suggestions to the effect that she would 
soon be entirely well, that every dose of the medi- 
cine would aid in the cure ; that she must expect 
to see results every day and see how soon she 
could overcome all of her hateful habits. 

Within a fortnight she was so far recovered 
that she ran errands to the market for her moth- 
er quite freed from the necessity of having and 
doing the things that her mother did. I called 
a month or so later and found that she was well 
and happy and was informed that she had been 
attending the public school for several weeks 
past. 

Patients often simply need a little encourage- 
ment to help them to throw off an abnormal 
condition which if allowed to continue would 
develop into a serious disease. How much bet- 
ter it is to recognize this condition in our pa- 
tients and give the encouragement than to neg- 
lect the essential thing and fill them full of noxi- 
ous drugs. Here is an example : 

A lady past the prime of life came un- 
der my care during the absence of her 
family physician. She told me of her long 
illness and of the unsuccessful efforts that 
had been made to cure her of "this protract- 
ed condition of nervous prostration." And in- 
cidentally she told me how "blue and despond- 
ent" she was and assured me that she had lost 




EMOTION.— See Page ioo. 



SUGGESTION IN THE WAKING STATE. 143 

hope of recovery. She had been a sensible busi- 
ness woman, but in some way, probably through 
worry and sorrow, had lost her grip upon her- 
self and upon life as well. I made it my business 
for a couple of days to convince the lady that 
she was not only curable but that I was the per- 
son who could and would cure her. She laid 
hold of the hope I held out to her and rested 
passively on my promise, with the result that 
she stopped thinking of her ailment, regained 
her appetite, was able to sleep again and in short 
her malady disappeared like darkness before the 
rising sun. When her family physician returned 
in a few days she told him she was so well that 
she_did not need any more medicine for the pres- 
ent. To put it mildly, he was amazed, and later 
came to me and asked if I were still treating the 
lady. I had not stolen his patient. I had cured 
her by making her believe she was curable and 
that she had found the means of cure. Her med- 
icine was rest, food and faith. She had had 
enough drugs already. Let me repeat, I believe 
in the use of drugs, but am frank to say that 
nutrition is the most important factor in medica- 
tion, and we know that the mind controls the 
trophic centers. Grief kills, joy cures! 

So far examples have been given only of the 
suggestions made in an indirect manner, that is, 
by inspiring hope and faith, but it is possible to 
make them in a direct manner, the patient know- 



144 MIND AND BODY. 

ing that they are being made. In such cases the 
patient places himself in a comfortable position 
and becomes as passive as possible. I usually 
have him close his eyes to shut out distracting 
ideas. After all is ready I seriously talk to the 
patient and make such suggestions as are need- 
ful, and repeat them over several times without 
making any attempt to hypnotize him. The 
results will be surprising to one who has never 
tried this method of treatment. I recall a case 
in point. 

A young doctor, a friend of mine, came to me 
in a state verging on nervous prostration from 
overwork. He was of a nervous temperament 
and was in a condition of nervous irritability of a 
very distressing character. All of his senses 
were hyper-acute, he had to wear smoked glasses, 
complained of the loudness of noises, slept poor- 
ly and was conscious of the action of his stomach 
and bowels. I had him lie upon the couch with 
closed eyes and passive mind while I talked to 
him in a confident tone of voice, assuring him 
that he would sleep well, eat well and readily di- 
gest his food ; that he knew and I knew that his 
trouble all depended upon the loss of his con- 
trol over his nervous system ; that the sleep, food 
and rest, that he was now having, would soon 
entirely dissipate the whole trouble. Such sug- 
gestions were repeated over and over for several 
times each treatment. In four treatments given 



SUGGESTION IN THE WAKING STATE. 145 

from two to seven days apart, we had obtained 
such marked results that the food and rest soon 
completed the cure. 

Any number of such cases might be given, but 
one will serve as well as a large number to illus- 
trate the method and a trial of it will be more 
convincing than the report of any number of 
cases. 

Some advocate the giving of all suggestive 
treatments in the waking state and doubtless 
this is right for some patients, but our patients 
are not all alike and treatment to be successful 
must be suited to the individual. The fault of 
many treatments is this failure to individualize. 
Experience shows that while many may be well 
treated while awake others may be better treated 
during natural sleep and some may be best treat- 
ed in induced sleep. Give your patient the bene- 
fit of the method suited to his individual need, 
and undreamed of success will crown your 
efforts. 



CHAPTER VII. 

TREATMENT IN NATURAL SLEEP. 

Novelties in suggestive therapeutics — Sleep defined — 
Duality of mind — Sleep and hypnosis — Dreams 
and the phenomena of sleep — Dreams influence 
waking life — Cured by a night vision — Sleeping in 
the temples — Attention or rapport — From natural 
to induced sleep — The young lady who snored — 
Importance of suggestion in natural sleep — An il- 
lustrative case — A nurse's case — A patient who was 
caught napping — A wife cures her husband of alco- 
holism — Illustrated in cases of restlessness and 
troubled dreams — Treatment in sleep and hypnosis 
identical — A series of remarkable changes — Auto- 
suggestions cause disease — How to treat one's self 
— Sleep not a state of unconsciousness — Auto-sug- 
gestion and dreams — The theory of auto-suggestion 
— A friend who cures himself — Limitations of auto- 
suggestion. 

Suggestive treatment in normal sleep is one 
of the newest phases in suggestive therapeutics, 
but it is none the less important on that account. 
This method of applying suggestion offers op- 
portunities for treatment and education far- 
reaching in their possibilities as will appear as we 
proceed. 

Sleep may be defined as a natural subconscious 
state similar to the induced subconscious state, 
hypnosis. It should be recognized as a definite 
phase of personality with its distinctive charac- 

U7 



148 MIND AND BODY. 

teristics and not simply as an absence of waking 
activities as so often conceived. A proper con- 
ception of sleep will aid greatly in an under- 
standing of why a suggestion given in sleep to 
the subconscious mind takes deeper root and 
works itself into more permanent results than 
one given in the waking state to the ordinary 
consciousness. The duality of the mind has been 
referred to in another connection and need not be 
reconsidered. It will suffice if we bear in mind 
that there is every reason to believe in double 
consciousness, and that one consciousness is pe- 
culiar to the waking state and another peculiar 
to sleep and hypnosis. 

The phenomena of sleep are so well known 
that it is hardly necessary to enumerate them, 
and yet it may be well to call attention to a few 
of them which will illustrate some points neces- 
sary to our discussion. 

Dreams furnish the explanation of most of the 
phenomena of sleep and since the origin and pur- 
port of dreams are the same in sleep and hyp- 
nosis it is reasonable to conclude that the one 
is no more harmful to health than the other. 
Effective mental work is done in dream-con- 
sciousness as is well shown by such examples as 
the writing of poetry and the solving of mathe- 
matic problems and the like in sleep. Persons 
called somnambulists exhibit the power of co- 
ordinate movements and do and say many things 



TREATMENT IN NATURAL SLEEP. 149 

impossible to an automaton. Children may be 
conversed with and made to move about with- 
out waking and many grown persons will answer 
questions and obey suggestions in sleep. 

The effects of impression upon the dream-con- 
sciousness are often marked. Fere mentions a 
case in point : A girl dreamed for several nights 
that men were running after her. She graw daily 
more and more exhausted, and the weakness in 
her legs increased until a hysterical paralysis of 
both legs declared itself. It is most probable 
that dreams have an after-effect on healthy per- 
sons ; at any rate it is certain that many persons 
are influenced to do radical deeds through 
dreams. Aristotle held long ago that many of 
our actions were prompted by dreams. This well 
authenticated case has been reported: A man 
addicted to the use of morphia was cured in a 
single night by a dream. The apparition of his 
dead mother came and stood by his bedside and 
pleaded with him to abandon the habit and show- 
ed him the evil results it was producing upon 
himself and his family. The drea-m was so vivid 
and his anguish and remorse of conscience so 
great that they awakened him. Arising at the 
same hour, three o'clock in the morning, he 
crushed both hypodermic syringe and morphia 
bottle and threw them away. From that mo- 
ment he has not used nor had any desire for the 
drug. 



150 MIND AND BODY. 

Many persons have been made ill by impres- 
sions made upon the dream-consciousness, and 
many have been cured of illness in the same way. 
The priests in the ancient temples used to direct 
the sick to sleep upon the floor of the temple 
near the altar and that they would be told in 
dreams what remedies would cure them, which 
they often did, and were healed. 

The intimate relationship between natural and 
induced sleep must be apparent to all and the 
possibility of changing the one into the other 
is not surprising. They are both subconscious 
states and the only difference between them is 
a matter of attention or rapport. The person in 
natural sleep is in rapport with himself and auto- 
suggestions direct his sleep and cause dreams; 
the person in hypnotic sleep is in rapport with 
the operator and heterosuggestions direct his 
sleep and cause the phenomena of hypnosis. 

Some pains were taken to explain the manner 
of transferring a person from a natural into an 
hypnotic sleep in giving the various methods of 
hypnotizing, so only brief mention will be made 
of this change now. Many cases have come un- 
der my notice, but I shall record but a single 
one. 

One night about a year ago I was called to at- 
tend a confinement case in a distant part of the 
city, and after examining my patient I found 
that I had several hours to wait and so lay down 



TREATMENT IN NATURAL SLEEP. 151 

in an adjoining room to take a nap. The sister 
of the patient was the nurse in the case and she 
followed my example and lay down to take a nap 
upon the couch in the parlor. She was more 
successful than I, as I was soon informed by her 
snoring. I do not like snoring, but I stood it a 
little while and then got up and went to the little 
lady to expostulate. I seated myself upon a chair 
by the side of the couch and proceeded to stop 
the snoring as follows : I placed my hand light- 
ly upon her forehead and began to talk to her in 
a low monotonous tone of voice. I told her that 
she would not wake up but that she would hear 
and obey what I said to her. In a few moments 
she was as readily suggestible as though she had 
been hypnotized in the usual manner, for indeed 
she was perfectly hypnotized. I never tried to 
hypnotize her before nor after that once, but 
doubtless she would have been a good hypnotic 
subject. 

After what has been said it is hardly neces- 
sary for me to say that the treatment by sug- 
gestion during natural sleep is of immense value 
in therapeutics. Those who have used it most 
are loudest in its praise. It is something 
that every mother and every person who has 
the care of children should thoroughly under- 
stand. It is something that every wise physi- 
cian will often have occasion to use, for it is sim- 
ple, efficacious and free from dangers. 



152 MIND AND BODY. 

Perhaps this method of treatment will be more 
often used than any other by the laity because 
of its simplicity and its usefulness with children. 
Mothers may successfully treat their children and 
teachers may successfully train their pupils. The 
method of its application may be illustrated by 
a few cases. 

Here is an example : A little girl, eight years 
of age, had the habit of sucking her thumb and 
could not be broken of it by bribery or punish- 
ment. The child's mother came to me for help 
and I told her of suggestion and explained its ap- 
plication in the treatment of children and others 
during sleep. She promised to try it and report 
the result. After several weeks I received a let- 
ter containing the following comment: 

"So much about myself, now about the chil- 
dren. The treatment succeeded like magic. I 
repeated the suggestions three times, every other 
night, and now Josie is all right. She has been 
freed from her habit ever since the first treat- 
ment. After speaking to her and telling her 
that she would not wake up, I just reasoned with 
her and had her promise me, while asleep, that 
she would help get well and a cure followed. I 
cannot thank you enough for teaching me how 
to treat the children." 

Such results as the above are common. No 
habit will stand against this treatment when 
carefully administered. 



TREATMENT IN NATURAL SLEEP. 153 

One of my nurses a short while ago cured an 
obstinate enuresis nocturna. No drug remedy 
that I could find did him the least good. So, af- 
ter satisfying myself that there were no irritating 
adhesions or other local causes for the trouble 
and that it was wholly a habit, I directed the 
nurse to give him suggestive treatments while he 
slept. The case promptly responded to the 
treatment and within ten days the boy was per- 
manently cured of a habit of several years' stand- 
ing. 

The results of these suggestive treatments are 
often very surprising to persons who have known 
little of the power of psychic forces. I have in 
mind a patient who had habitual headaches from 
once to three times a week. I tried remedies in 
vain and in desperation suggested hypnotic 
treatment. She was willing, but I was unable 
to hypnotize her by the usual methods. I said 
to her one day : 

"I shall come over tonight and treat you after 
you are asleep." She went to bed early and was 
soundly sleeping when her sister conducted me 
to her room. I sat by the bed a few minutes and 
then began to talk to her. I placed my hand 
quietly upon her head and said : 

"You are sleeping soundly and nothing will 
disturb you, but you will hear all that I say to 
you." 

Then I assured her that the headaches would 



154 MIND AND BODY. 

not return, that she was permanently rid of them 
and that she would be hypnotizable at any time 
she desired thereafter. 

The next day she was much surprised to learn 
that I had been there and treated her without 
waking her, but it was so and thereafter her 
headaches were easily relieved and permanently 
cured by a few treatments. 

It is possible for wives to treat their husbands 
or friends to treat each other with the happiest 
results. A gentleman came to me and said he 
was much worried by the discovery that he was 
a slave to the drink habit. He realized that he 
was helpless and going from bad to worse. His 
business would not permit his coming to me 
often, besides he lived at a considerable distance. 
So I directed him to bring his wife with him the 
next time he came and promised to instruct her 
so that she could treat him. When they came I 
hypnotized him and let her hear me give him 
the necessary suggestions. Then I told him that 
his wife would talk to him every night and that 
he would hear what she said but not wake up. 
So every night for about three weeks she gave 
him the suggestions, while he slept, with the 
most gratifying results. More than two years 
have passed and he has had no relapse/ 

In long illnesses where restlessness and trou- 
bled dreams are present you will find in sugges- 
tion a most helpful agent. I recall a case of 



TREATMENT IN NATURAL SLEEP. 155 

typhoid fever in a boy of fifteen years, where it 
was well illustrated. The patient had all sorts of 
hallucinations as soon as he fell asleep and would 
talk and try to get up and walk about. One 
day he was in the midst of this sort of an ex- 
perience when I called and it occurred to me that 
suggestion might be useful in replacing the dis- 
turbing dreams by quiet, restful ones. In a 
few moments I succeeded in turning his mind 
upon pleasant things and he fell into a restful 
sleep. I explained what I had done to the nurse 
and told her to do the same whenever he became 
restless and excited. She did so and secured 
for the little sufferer many a quiet nap. I have 
often tried this application of suggestion since 
and can recommend it as a valuable aid in such 
cases. 

Doubtless you have already noticed what I 
wish to call attention to now, namely, that treat- 
ment in natural sleep is essentially the same as 
treatment in induced sleep, or hypnosis, for in 
securing the attention of the sleeper you transfer 
him from a natural to an induced sleep. How- 
ever, this fact does not lessen the value of treat- 
ment during natural sleep. I have given several 
instances in which, after failure by the usual 
methods of hypnotizing, this method has been 
successful. In natural sleep the mind is passive 
and the consciousness is narrowed down to a 
point, and it is comparatively easy to secure the 



156 MIND AND BODY. 

attention and direct the subject's thoughts in any- 
way desired. From natural sleep to hypnosis 
and back again are a remarkable series of 
changes, but anyone who has successfully 
treated a patient in natural sleep has effected 
them. Observation will show that in both meth- 
ods of treatment the same condition is induced 
in the patients ; namely, they are rendered atten- 
tive and suggestible. In the one case the hyp- 
nosis is induced while the patient is asleep, in the 
other it is induced while he is awake. From 
different starting points we reach the same desti- 
nation. 

This being plain, it will be unnecessary for me 
to go into further details concerning treatment 
here, for a little farther on it will be necessary 
for me to give a more or less detailed account 
of the application of hypnotism in suggestive 
therapeutics. However, before we pass to that 
subject I wish to say a few words concerning 
autosuggestion in treatment and the possibility 
of a person curing himself. 

Doubtless many diseases have their origin in 
autosuggestion, and it seems reasonable that 
they may be cured by the same means. Indeed, 
the possibility of treating one's self by auto- 
suggestions has been amply proven, and it is 
probable that some day in the far or near future 
it will become better understood and more used. 
Treatment by autosuggestion depends upon two 



TREATMENT IN NATURAL SLEEP. 157 

conditions, namely: First, in normal sleep one 
is in rapport with himself and consciously or 
unconsciously directs his dreams, and, second, 
the possibility of directing this dream-conscious- 
ness by autosuggestions in such a manner as to 
secure curative effects. 

That one is in rapport with himself during nat- 
ural sleep is plain and needs no further comment. 
But is it true that he can direct his dream-con- 
sciousness in a curative manner ? It seems to be. 
Sleep is not a state of unconsciousness but a 
phase of personality with definite characteristics 
and activities. Doubtless sleep is always accom- 
panied by dreams whether they are remembered 
or not. They are similar to the experiences dur- 
ing hypnosis and the memory of them depends 
on the same conditions. Suggestions control 
the conditions in both states. All of the experi- 
ences in hypnosis are recalled if the proper sug- 
gestion is given, and many, by autosuggestion, 
can preserve complete memories of their dreams. 
It is well known that many persons, probably all 
persons if they would try, can wake at any hour 
desired during the night without being called. If 
one wishes to catch an early train and fixes the 
hour distinctly upon his mind he rarely fails to 
keep his appointment with himself. He wakes 
promptly at the appointed hour, but how does 
he do it? By autosuggestion. 

The hypnotist speaks to his subject while he 



158 MIND AND BODY. 

is in a subconscious state, but the one who would 
treat himself must speak to himself just before 
going to sleep. Autosuggestions are fully as 
powerful in their curative effects as those given 
by another, but it is essential that one should 
understand and confidently apply them. He who 
would treat himself should impress the desired 
thoughts as strongly as possible upon his mind 
just before going to sleep, and after falling asleep 
they will find their way into his dream-conscious- 
ness and control it as desired. An instance 
would make this plainer. 

I have a friend who cures himself of the vari- 
ous ailments that befall him. Here is an exam- 
ple of his experiments. For years he suffered 
periodically with obstinate constipation, until he 
heard of and used "self-cure" or autosugges- 
tion. In the midst of one of his severe attacks 
he began giving himself autosuggestions, and 
within a week he was greatly relieved and fully 
cured within a fortnight. His method was as 
follows : Before going to sleep he repeated sev- 
eral times to himself, "My trouble is a habit and 
my mind can and will correct it." He believed 
what he said. 

Theoretically autosuggestions ought to cure 
every ill that flesh is heir to, but practically they 
have succeeded only in a limited range of dis- 
eases. They fall in the same category as tel- 



TREATMENT IN NATURAL SLEEP. 159 

epathic suggestions and need further study be- 
fore they can be finally passed upon. 

Treatment during sleep opens a broad field 
in therapeutics full of attractive possibilities for 
the treatment of diseases and education. The 
latter will be discussed in another chapter. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

CLINICAL HYPNOTISM. 

The value of hypnotism in medicine — Hypnotism in 
general practice — The mind no mean power. "Im- 
aginary diseases" — Hysteria and suggestion — A case 
in point — Persons dominated by ideas — Fear of dis- 
ease — Reflex nervous diseases — Muscular spasm — 
Hiccoughing — The advantage of psychic treatment 
— Not a last hope — Alleviation of pain in neuralgia 
— Nervous debility following evil habit — Insomnia 
and restlessness yield to hypnotic suggestion — Re- 
flex gastro-intestinal ailments — A young man unin- 
tentionally made ill — Constipation speedily relieved 
— Many chronic diseases simply habits — Dipsoma- 
nia cured — A relapse — Are cures by suggestion per- 
manent? — Cooperation of a third party — The to- 
bacco habit — Keep the mind occupied — A faith- 
ful friend — Masturbation successfully treated — Re- 
sults in acute diseases illustrated — Rheumatism and 
suggestion — Habits of childhood — Diseases of wo- 
men—Obstetrics — Surgery — Hypnotism and anaes- 
thesia — Tooth extraction — Simple fractures — Dislo- 
cation — Major operations — A curettement after 
abortion — Unprejudiced persons — Disappointments. 

Many startling truths have been discovered, 
and as many others have received fresh illumi- 
nation, within the last score of years, but of them 
all, perhaps, none is more important than hyp- 
notism in its therapeutic application, which 
abounds in many unexplored fields full of grand 
possibilities for the relief of suffering humanity. 
The value of hypnotic suggestion to the medical 

161 



162 MIND AND BODY. 

profession is considerable, and it seems to be the 
duty of every conscientious physician to under- 
stand and use this most promising curative 
agent. 

Suggestion is as broad as the fields of medi- 
cine and surgery, and finds its application and 
use in every part of those broad fields. Where 
it is unable to conquer alone it comes to the aid 
of other remedies bringing comfort, heal- 
ing diseases and inspiring hope by its presence. 
Hypnotism has many times, in many cases, illus- 
trated and justified its usefulness as a therapeutic 
agent, and that greater triumphs are in store for 
it there is no doubt. However, the value of any 
therapeutic agent is measured by its achieve- 
ments, so no mention shall be made of theories 
or prophecies, but a simple statement shall be 
made of what it has accomplished in my own 
hands. First, we will consider what may be 
done with it in general practice, and then, its uses 
in surgery. 

In general practice hypnotism has a wide use- 
fulness; indeed, there is hardly a department in 
clinical medicine where it may not be of service. 
Do not misunderstand me. I do not say that it 
is a panacea — no one claims that — but alone or 
in conjunction with other remedies it may be 
helpful in all functional and many organic dis- 
eases. Of course specific diseases are excluded. 
I speak advisedly and when it is remembered 



CLINICAL HYPNOTISM. 163 

that the instrument that we use is the mind it 
must be admitted that it is no mean power. The 
instrument being the mind, it naturally follows 
that the better its condition naturally and educa- 
tionally, the better the results. 
I* Clinical suggestion has achieved its most bril- 
liant successes in the relief of the neuroses, espe- 
cially those caused by the imagination or in a 
psychic way. Those caused by the imagination 
are often erroneously called "imaginary dis- 
eases," but they are usually very real diseases, 
which should more properly be called diseases 
of the imagination. Perhaps the most typical of 
these diseases is hysteria. 

Hysteria is, as Mobins says, "a functional dis- 
turbance of the cerebral centers represented by a 
state in which ideas control the body and pro- 
duce morbid changes in its functions," and it 
furnishes the most favorable opportunity for sug- 
gestion ; the ideas which disturb the bodily func- 
tions may be replaced by others which will make 
for health and correct the morbid conditions. 
Let me cite a case. 

A maiden lady, thirty-five years of age, a sales- 
woman by occupation, came under my care in 
the fall of 1895. She had been well until about 
ten years before, when she began to have vari- 
ous nervous ailments. These nervous conditions 
increased steadily, though gradually, and for five 
years she has been a confirmed invalid. When I 



164 MIND AND BODY. 

took charge of the case she was in a pitiable 
condition. Her appetite was gone and her bow- 
els were constipated. She suffered from insom- 
nia, headaches and ovarian pains and was obliged 
to wear an abdominal support for a fancied or 
real weakness. She wore smoked glasses, be- 
cause the light hurt her eyes and made her 
head ache. In short, she was an hysterical sub- 
ject and her aches and pains were legion. 

At my first visit I made a pretty thorough ex- 
amination and decided upon an hypnotic treat- 
ment. However, I left a prescription and prom- 
ised to call again in a couple of days. I called 
at the appointed time, hypnotized her and be- 
gan to correct her functional perversions. I as- 
sured her that her stomach would regain its 
strength and retain certain foods that had been 
regularly rejected, and that her bowels would act 
without aid. One week later I saw her again and 
found her much improved and hopeful in spirits. 
This time I suggested that she would be able 
to leave off her abdominal support and that her 
ovarian pains would cease. Thus for two months 
I saw her about once a week and each time 
lopped off one or more affections and deepened 
the impression that she- would wholly recover. 
And she made an uneventful recovery. 

Less serious but quite as annoying is another 
group of ailments in which persons are domi- 
nated by ideas and fears. A lady came to me 



CLINICAL HYPNOTISM. 165 

one day who was possessed by the notion that 
she was going to have a cancer. She said : 

"I know I am going to have a cancer and that 
I shall die from the effects of it. My father died 
from that cause. Why, I can see the cancer form- 
ing with my mind's eye whenever I close my 
eyes. Is there any help for me?" 

An examination proved her fears to be un- 
founded and a suggestive treatment was advised. 
After two suggestive treatments, a couple of 
days apart, she was entirely relieved and several 
weeks later remarked that it was strange, but 
that she not only did not fear having a tumor 
but that she was unable to think of it. 

A young man, a medical student, was much 
annoyed by a faintness which regularly came 
over him when present at any operation requir- 
ing the opening of the abdominal cavity; no 
other operation caused him any distress be it 
ever so bloody. Could hypnotic suggestion do 
anything for him? Certainly. Two treatments 
gave him full relief. 

Not infrequently I am called in cases of reflex 
nervous trouble — nausea and vomiting, hic- 
coughing, spasms and convulsions. In these 
cases suggestion is a most potent curative agent. 
Not long since I received a most urgent sum- 
mons to the home of a young woman, a public 
school teacher, who was suffering from an aggra- 
vated attack of vomiting, incident to excitement. 



166 MIND AND BODY. 

In a few moment she was resting quietly, the 
nausea and vomiting were gone, nor did they 
return; I had previously hypnotized her. 

One day I was called to care for a patient who 
while taking a bath, by straining the muscles of 
the right shoulder, set up a painful spasm of 
those muscles. The muscles were readily relaxed 
and the spasm relieved by suggestion. Here is 
another similar instance. 

A young lady eighteen years of age was 
brought to me by her mother one day 
a couple of years ago suffering from a 
severe attack of hiccoughing. The attack 
had lasted nearly two weeks, although she 
had received every attention that sever- 
al prominent physicians of both schools of 
practice could devise. They were in dead earnest 
and tried hard, as is plain from the means which 
they recommended and used. Judging that the 
hiccoughing might be of a reflex character they 
advised and inserted a uterine pessary in the 
young girl ! And all of these means availed noth- 
ing. The hiccoughing, like most nervous affec- 
tions, was worse when she "thought of it." 

The mother was somewhat fearful of hypno- 
tism and made me solemnly promise not to ex- 
ert any influence over her daughter after she left 
my office. Behold the strength of prejudice! 
The patient readily fell into an hypnosis and was 
then told that the hiccoughing was a habit and 



CLINICAL HYPNOTISM. 167 

that she would be able to overcome it ; that she 
would not worry about it any more and that 
she would speedily and wholly recover her 
health. Three treatments permanently relieved 
and cured this young lady, and that, too, without 
the aid of a pessary or any other adjuvant. 

It seems proper to emphasize the advantage 
of psychic over other forms of treatment. It 
is free from indelicacy, as there is in most cases 
no need of the patient removing the clothing or 
exposing the person, and in all cases the rela- 
tives and friends may be present at the treat- 
ments. This is a most important consideration 
with many. Often modest persons put off treat- 
ment which they greatly need on this account. It 
ought to be said, however, that the physician 
should not let any false modesty prevent such 
examinations as are needful for the proper care 
of the patient. The facility with which hypno- 
tism is used renders it exceedingly useful ; it re- 
quires no paraphernalia and no special prepara- 
tion ; it is soothing and leaves nothing but peace 
and comfort as after effects when intelligently 
used. 

As a curative agent it should receive the same 
recognition accorded to other therapeutic 
agents; it should be tried and allowed to stand 
or fall upon its own merits. It is not a last hope, 
as many seem to think, to be tried when all else 
has failed. It has as wide an application in acute 



168 MIND AND BODY. 

as in chronic ailments and should be used with 
intelligent discrimination. 

One of the most frequent and valuable uses 
of suggestion is the alleviation of pain. We 
have a considerable number of anodynes, but 
none is free from bad after-effects except this 
one. The removal of the pain does not cure 
the disease, of which it is only a symptom, al- 
though a most annoying and exhausting one, but 
it renders a cure of the disease most probable 
by securing a restful, hopeful condition in the 
patient. A case of neuralgia well explains and 
illustrates my contention. 

A business man about thirty years of age had 
for a number of years been subject to most se- 
vere neuralgic headaches; any unusual excite- 
ment brought them on and many times they came 
without apparent cause. That they were severe 
there was little reason to doubt, but to make 
me understand how severe they were he called 
my attention to his temples, where his hair had 
been bleached to a snowy whiteness by the in- 
tensity of the pain. His health seemed perfect 
in all other respects, so I judged that the head- 
aches were of psychic origin and might be cured 
by the same power. I was not mistaken. Three 
suggestive treatments permanently relieved this 
man and for more than two years he has not 
had more than a slight headache, which any 
person is likely to have occasionally, 



CLINICAL HYPNOTISM. 169 

Before leaving the subject of nervous diseases 
I have one other example I wish to cite. A 
young man about twenty-five years of age came 
to me for relief from a nervous, debilitated condi- 
tion consequent upon a habit formed in his 
youth. He exolained h i 's trouble substantially 
as follows: 

"When a boy I fell into the habit of self- 
abuse and continued it for several years, but 
rinding that it was injuring my health and learn- 
ing that it was likely to ruin my mind and 
wreck my body I discontinued the practice. 
However, the seeds sown were destined to bear 
fruit and soon I formed the habit of restless 
sleep with vile and debilitating dreams. I was 
greatly distressed and frightened by these devel- 
opments and I sought aid from several promi- 
nent physicians. Nothing they did made the 
least impression upon my habit, which was 
gradually undermining my mental and bodily 
health. So here I am, a wreck of my former 
self, and although afraid of hypnotism I have 
a greater fear of the condition I am fast ap- 
proaching." 

It also appeared upon inquiry that his mind 
was ever full of sensual thoughts in his waking 
hours ; in fact, he was unable to escape from 
them at any time. He was exceedingly de- 
spondent, even to the verge of melancholia. 

After hypnotism and its benefits had been ex- 



170 MIND AND BODY. 

plained to him, he was hypnotized and sugges- 
tions were given to him to the effect that he 
would sleep well ; that his dreams, if he had any, 
which was doubtful, would be pleasant and 
clean ; that he would wake up in the morning 
feeling rested and refreshed, and that his work 
and happy thoughts would occupy his mind dur- 
ing the day. He returned upon the next even- 
ing and reported excellent results. He had 
spent a good night and had been happy and 
hopeful all day. Within the next fortnight he 
received in all five treatments, receiving similar 
suggestions each time, and was then dismissed 
fully cured. 

About three months later this patient called 
upon me one evening, looking hearty and happy, 
and requested me to give him suggestions to 
help him learn to swim. He was afraid of deep 
water, which hindered him from learning. His 
fear was readily removed and he learned to swim 
by the aid of a couple of suggestive lessons. 

Insomnia and restlessness are common to 
many ailments and anything that will relieve 
them is a valuable adjuvant in therapeutics. 
These are often easily controlled by suggestion 
and the most hopeful opportunity offered for the 
successful treatment of the diseases to which 
they are incident. All recognize the healing 
power of sleep, and it is worthy of note that 
patients pass readily from hypnosis into natural 



CLINICAL HYPNOTISM. 171 

sleep. By posthypnotiic suggestion natural 
sleep may be secured at any time, and much 
needed rest and recuperation obtained without 
drugging and its too frequent evil results. 

Many most happy results might be cited where 
restlessness and insomnia have been relieved. 
One must suffice. It was a case of rheumatism 
of the heart, with pronounced murmurs, in a 
young lady twenty-three years of age. She 
had spent a couple of restless, sleepless 
nights, and I feared the results upon her 
heart of her restlessness and the thrashing 
about the bed. I offered to put her to 
sleep and my offer was accepted. In less time 
than it takes to tell it she was sleeping as sweet- 
ly as a child. I then gave her suggestions to the 
effect that she would not be restless when she 
awoke, but that she would be comfortable and 
take several refreshing naps during the after- 
noon, and at night fall into a profound sleep 
that would last all night, and that she would 
soon get well. All of these suggestions carried 
and she made a quick recovery. 

Incidentally I cured this patient of a long-es- 
tablished habit of insomnia, which had lasted as 
long as a dozen years. Indeed, she told me that 
she did not know what it was to have a good 
night's rest. Her abililty to sleep at any time 
and anywhere after receiving the hypnotic sug- 



172 MIND AND BODY. 

gestions was the occasion for remarks among 
her friends. 

Reflex gastro-intestinal troubles have been re- 
ferred to, but similar troubles from other causes 
are just as easily and as often relieved. A rather 
peculiar incident occurred one evening when we 
were studying the phenomena of hypnosis. I 
sent a subject up in an imaginary balloon. The 
young lady sitting by his side was supposed to 
accompany him, but she was not hypnotized. She 
pretended that she was afraid, but he persuaded 
her, saying that he had been up before and found 
it safe. She finally consented, and I gave him 
the suggestion that they were going up. Then 
she pretended she was dizzy and sick and wanted 
to come down. He insisted that everything was 
all right, and she_jnsisted that she was really 
quite ill and acted it out. So he pulled the 
imaginary valve rope and assured her they were 
rapidly descending, and then that they were 
safely down to earth again. I busied myself with 
another subject for a few moments and he awak- 
ened spontaneously from his hypnotic sleep. 
After a few minutes he complained of feeling 
sick and went into the toilet-room and threw up 
his supper, and for an hour or more was quite 
ill, He had received the suggestions made by 
the young lady, and they produced their effects 
after he came out of the hypnosis. 

The above instance well illustrates the prompt 



CLINICAL HYPNOTISM. 173 

action of the mind upon the bodilv organs, and 
explains such cases as the following: A Polish 
lady about thirty years of age sent for me for re- 
lief from an aggravated condition of constipation. 
She said she felt quite ill and that unless she 
could find relief she feared she would be unable 
to start upon a proposed journey that night. It 
was too late to give a laxative, and she objected 
to an enema, so I recommended hypnotic sug- 
gestion. She was willing to try it. I had her lie 
down upon the bed and induced hypnosis. 
Suggestions were given to the effect that the 
medicine I was about to administer was a very 
strong cathartic and that it would cause a free 
evacuation in fifteen minutes, after which she 
would feel perfectly well and happy. Then I 
gave her a few grains of sugar and allowed her 
to sleep about fifteen minutes. The suggestion 
was afterward made that she desired to go to 
the bathroom and that she would go and relieve 
herself without waking up. She went, and the 
result was perfect. I left her with the sugges- 
tion that she would continue to sleep for two 
hours and then wake of her own accord. She 
did as directed and on waking had no memory 
of what had occurred, but admitted that she 
felt perfectly well. 

Not a few chronic diseases are confirmed habits, 
and this accounts for the ease with which psychic 
forces cure them. If there is any one class of dis- 



174 MIND AND BODY. 

eases more than any other that yields before sug- 
gestions it is habits of all sorts and conditions. 
This whole book would not afford space to tell 
of them all, but an instance or two will serve 
as illustrations. 

A gentleman about thirty years of age 
was brought to me last summer, a year 
ago, by a mutual friend, who was great- 
ly concerned about his welfare. He was 
well educated and unusually bright intel- 
lectually, having always held responsible 
positions before he was overtaken and over- 
come by the drink habit. But now he was in a 
helpless condition, not daring to take a position, 
knowing from bitter experience that he could 
not hold one. Poverty and worse stared him in 
the face. Could anything be done for him ? Was 
hypnotism equal to such a case? Yes, provided 
he was a good subject for suggestive treatment, 
as he proved to be. 

Hypnosis was induced and suggestions given 
to the effect that he would lose his appetite for 
drink; that it was a habit and he had strength 
to resist it ; that he would avoid saloons and the 
companions with whom he had frequented them ; 
that he would take pride in his victory over his 
habit, for he would certainly conquer it. 

After three sittings at intervals of two or three 
days he went about town seeking employment, 
and for several months was absolutely freed from 



CLINICAL HYPNOTISM. 177 

the domination of his old enemy. He even 
courted temptation by going into saloons and 
meeting his associates of those evil days. Alas 
for weak man! Pride goeth before a fall. He 
obtained a position through the aid of his help- 
ful friend, and hope came back and prosperity 
dawned. He was so sure of himself that he 
"went out with the boys" and took an occasional 
drink to show them that he was master of him- 
self. But the old haunts and boon companions 
and occasional drinks were too much for him 
and he went down with a crash. ...» V$&&i 

If this man had done as we advised and urged, 
taken a few more suggestive treatments, he 
would not have gone down again. He may be 
cured yet, but in any case his experience should 
teach us a lesson. It is cited here to emphasize 
the necessity of using suggestion as we do other 
means of cure; it should be continued until the 
cure is completed, and then, good sense should 
be used about exposure to influences likely to 
cause a relapse. 

There is no apparent reason why a cure by 
suggestion should not be as permanent as a 
cure by any other means. And yet it requires 
a very strong influence to overcome the adverse 
influence of an environment of incredulity and 
doubt. It is manifestly next to an impossibility 
for a sick person to possess the necessary men- 
tal force to overcome such conditions. For this 

n 



178 MIND AND BODY. 

reason it is often necessary to change the patient 
from an atmosphere of doubt and gloom and 
malaria into one of faith and sunshine and hope. 
Psychic healing depends upon proper psychic 
conditions and nothing is unimportant that 
modifies them. 

Many cases of drug habits have been success- 
fully treated, as have also not a few cases of to- 
bacco habit, both chewing and smoking. In 
the treatment of the tobacco habit it is good 
practice to supply something to keep the jaws 
and stomach busy and keep the mind from 
thinking of tobacco. So, after giving sugges- 
tions to the effect that it is a dirty habit, that 
they have firmly determined to break it off, and 
that they will be able to do so, since their desire 
for the weed is gone, I advise them to carry a 
small piece of licorice-root in their pockets to 
nibble. Peanuts are recommended for the same 
purpose and doubtless are as good as anything 
that could be used. 

The cooperation of a third party is often very 
helpful in mental medicine, as they can empha- 
size the suggestions made by the physician and 
help the patient to carry them out. I have an 
instance in mind. 

During the World's Fair one day a trained 
nurse called upon me and asked my advice and 
aid in the case of her friend, another nurse, who 
was addicted to the habit of masturbation. She 



CLINICAL HYPNOTISM. 179 

said that she had advised her friend to consult a 
physician, but that she refused because she was 
ashamed. However, she was willing for her to 
consult one and get medicine for her, and a little 
later she brought the patient to me. 

In childhood she had been well and strong 
and was from a healthy family, but at the age of 
thirteen a servant of the family taught her the 
practice to which she had become a slave and 
had been in bondage for seventeen years. She 
had been very nervous for several years past and 
had little strength of mind. Her appetite was 
poor and she frequently had severe sick head- 
aches. Sometimes she had ovarian pains and al- 
ways had a profuse leucorrhcea. When advised 
to discontinue her practice she insisted that she 
was unable to do so, and, moreover, that she 
frequently awakened at night and discovered 
that she had polluted herself in her sleep. Care- 
fully selected remedies and local treatments failed 
to relieve her, so I recommended the use of hyp- 
notism, and she readily agreed to it. 

It took about six weeks to cure her, but it was 
a permanent cure. Suggestions were given to 
the effect that she would sleep soundly at night 
and that she would be able to control herself, 
that her appetite would come back and that she 
would feel better in every way. From the first 
treatment she began to improve and only once 
yielded to her old habit. Her friend encouraged 



180 MIND AND BODY. 

her and together we lifted her out of the mire of 
her filthy habit and gave her back her self-re- 
spect. In about two months she appeared so 
thoroughly cured that I recommended that she 
accept an invitation from her friends to go to 
the Pacific coast. She went and has been there 
for nearly five years. Recently she wrote : "I 
am so grateful to you for what you did for me. 
I am quite well now and have not yielded to 
that terrible habit since I left Chicago." 

To illustrate the results obtained in acute dis- 
eases let me cite a case of acute rheumatism 
with contracture of the right knee. 

An intelligent German-American of thirty-one 
years, a plumber by trade, sent for me to relieve 
him from an attack of rheumatism. He had been 
ill for about a month, but for two weeks past had 
been confined to his bed. He was in constant 
pain and was unable to straighten the right limb, 
which was inflamed and swollen about the knee. 

That is the history he gave, and he then ex- 
plained that he had sent for me because he had 
heard that I used hypnotism, and that was what 
he wanted. He did not believe in medicine. 
This was pleasant news, for it was a good case 
for a fair test of suggestion. I hypnotized him 
and suggested that the pain would cease and 
commanded him to straighten his limb. He did 
so with some difficulty. Then I assured him that 
he would rapidly improve ; that the stiffness and 



CLINICAL HYPNOTISM. 181 

pain would both disappear, and that he would 
be able to sleep and get some very much needed 
rest. Then I awakened him and he said that the 
pain was gone. In two days I called again and 
found him up and greatly improved. I repeated 
the suggestions. Two or three days later he 
called at my office and said that he was quite 
well. i * ...a~/v •-■.>,..,. - 

The value of suggestion as an adjutant in the 
treatment of acute diseases is well shown in a 
patient, who has been under my care for about 
a year, suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis. 
All of the characteristic symptoms were present 
— the persistent cough and profuse expectora- 
tion, the night sweats, the loss of appetite and the 
presence of tubercle bacilli in the sputa. 
p» By hypnotic suggestion the troublesome 
cough was controlled, the night sweats stopped, 
restful sleep secured, the appetite restored and 
the general tone of the system improved so that 
it looks hopeful for a complete recovery from 
the dread disease. The cough has ceased and 
no sputa are raised. Will the system throw off 
the germs? I hope so. 

Space will not permit any further details, but 
any number of cases are at hand to prove be- 
yond peradventure the beneficent and curative 
effects of suggestion upon all sorts of diseases. 
It would be interesting to tell of them, but time 
would fail me to mention the habits of childhood, 



182 MIND AND BODY. 

both moral and mental; the diseases of women, 
both functional and organic; the conditions in 
obstetrics, both before and during confinement, 
and the manifold ills in general practice, not 
to mention surgery, that may be relieved by sug- 
gestion. It is the most powerful remedy that 
nature has furnished for the cure of her children. 

It is not probable that hypnotism will ever 
be widely used alone in surgery, but it is most 
useful as an aid in the administration of other 
anaesthetics, not more than half the drug being 
needed to secure perfect results. It has been 
used many times, but not once have I observed 
an ill-effect or an opportunity for just criticism. 
There are many cases in minor surgery where it 
is being used with most satisfactory results, and 
not a few others where it ought to be used. 
Space forbids details, but in a word, it may be 
used in such operations as tooth extraction, 
stitching up slight wounds, setting simple frac- 
tures, reducing dislocations, opening abscesses 
and the like. 

Before closing this chapter I will cite an op- 
eration which must serve as a type of many 
others. 

Late one night in October, 1896, I was called 
to attend a lady, and upon examination discov- 
ered a threatened miscarriage at about the third 
month. Hoping to avert the catastrophe medi- 
cines and directions were given to that end. An 



CLINICAL HYPNOTISM. 183 

early call the next morning proved the hope to 
be vain, as the fcetus had passed during the night, 
leaving the placenta behind. A curettement was 
necessary. 

Knowing the patient to be a good hypnotic 
subject I determined to perform the curettement 
under hypnosis. After everything was arranged 
for the operation the patient was so informed. 
She objected, because she feared she might be- 
come conscious during the operation and feel 
the pain. She was told that we had chloroform 
and that she should have some of that, and that 
she would certainly be all right. The fear, which 
might have acted as an autosuggestion, having 
been allayed, not over five drops of the chloro- 
form were put upon a napkin and the napkin held 
over the patient's nose and mouth, and she was 
instructed to breathe deeply and go to sleep. 
This she did and passed into an hypnotic sleep 
just as it was intended she should. After a few 
moments the nurse was told to give the patient 
more chloroform, and she gave her a single drop. 
This was for a suggestion. 

Now, suggestions were given to the patient to 
the effect that she was profoundly anaesthetized 
and therefore wholly insensible to pain ; that she 
would remain in this condition until the opera- 
tion was completed and she was returned to her 
bed ; that she would have no pain after the opera- 



184 MIND AND BODY. 

tion and would make a speedy recovery. These 
suggestions were effective. 

The operation, lasting about one-half hour, 
was performed and the patient placed in her bed 
without the least sign of pain. During the op- 
eration the patient responded freely to sugges- 
tions and held herself in position. Occasional 
remarks were made from time to time by way of 
suggestion to the patient to the effect that every- 
thing was progressing finely and that she was 
all right. 

The patient, some weeks later, was told that 
the operation had been performed under hypno- 
tism and she confirmed our judgment that no 
pain had been felt. 

No unprejudiced person can read of these 
things without feeling that the power and 
influence of suggestion is considerable, and 
it is hoped that this relation of a portion 
of my personal experience in the application of 
suggestion to the cure of diseases may serve to 
encourage others to try it for themselves. I have 
tried to point out the way. You will meet some 
disappointments, but will have many more suc- 
cesses. 



CHAPTER IX. 

SUGGESTION AND EDUCATION. 

Importance of education — Heredity as a factor in edu- 
cation — Environment as a factor — The child a piece 
of wax — Good and great men — Impressions or sug- 
gestions — The senses are so many open mouths — 
Not a new thing in education — Effect of sugges- 
tions upon children — Verbal suggestions not all — 
Children imitators — Intelligent suggestions — Meth- 
ods of application — Suggestions made in the wak- 
ing state — Natural ability — Likes and dislikes — Two 
laws, credulity and expectancy — A little miss and 
algebra — Education during natural sleep — Some 
methods — Tried upon a boy — Hypnotism in edu- 
cation — Vicious children — Faculties of the mind 
profoundly affected — Memorizing — Self-confidence 
cultivated — Learning to swim — The lady and the 
bicycle — Use and experience necessary to success — 
Self-culture and auto-suggestion — "Not the man 
I married" — Owes his business success to self-sug- 
gestion — An example — Go and do likewise. 

Education is the most important occupation 
in which mortal man can engage, but too few 
fully appreciate its importance. Education 
means evolution, and evolution means growth. 
Emerson said: "When each one comes forth 
from his mother's womb the gate of gifts is 
closed upon him," but that is only half of the 
truth. When that gate closes a hundred others 
open to pour upon his defenseless head a thou- 
sand impressions that leave their indelible marks. 

185 



J 



186 MIND AND BODY. 

Suggestions come from every source to make or 
mar the new man. 

In the contention for primacy between 
heredity and environment the latter is like- 
ly to gain the victory. While it is true that 
hereditw has pronounced influences over the 
child, it must be observed that these influences 
are largely of a physical character. It is the 
moral atmosphere which environs the child that 
determines the final results. Those who contend 
for the theory of heredity forget that the child 
spends the most susceptible and impressionable 
period of its life with its parents before it is old 
enough to show any traits of character. More- 
over, the child of vicious parents, if transferred 
into a wholesome moral atmosphere, rarely de- 
velops the evil tendencies of the parents. 

I have studied this matter over thoughtfully 
and I am convinced that a man or a woman 
is what he or she is, not so much on account of 
ancestry as on account of circumstances and en- 
vironment. The child is like a little piece of wax 
upon which every experience and every person 
he meets leaves an impression, and after he has 
traveled the journey of life he is very much 
what these experiences and persons have made 
him. 

If you would fully appreciate the value of en- 
vironment inquire into the early surroundings 
of the good and great men of the world. You 



SUGGESTION AND EDUCATION. 187 

will be surprised if you have not thought of this, 
for great men do not just happen to appear, but 
are shaped by circumstances and environment. 
Change in environment is as important as change 
of place. A new face and the inspiration of a 
new association may awaken latent powers in a 
man that might otherwise have remained hidden 
and unknown both to himself and the world. 
Without the proper human stimulus most of our 
great men might have been ordinary and un- 
known persons. 

Now, if this is true, and all admit that it is, at 
least, partly so, it behooves us to see to it that 
proper experiences and helpful persons meet and 
leave their impressions or suggestions upon the 
growing child. In other words intelligent sug- 
gestions should take the places of the haphazard 
ones that are too often allowed to mar the noblest 
work of God. Those who love children and 
would elevate mankind have their greatest op- 
portunity here. No truer words were ever spoken 
than these : "The hand that rocks the cradle 
rules the world." 

Education must be accomplished through the 
senses. The kindergarten methods are steps in 
the right direction, and it would be well if they 
were continued twenty instead of only two years. 
The study of books in early life is a mistake. 
When we give lessons they should be object les- 
sons. Remember that the senses are so many 



188 MIND AND BODY. 

open mouths drinking in all sorts of good and 
evil, truth and error, and it behooves us to fur- 
nish the proper supplies. The supplies should 
be provided continuously and intentionally, if we 
would develop symmetrical human beings. 

The employment of suggestion in education 
is not a new thing under the sun ; it is probably 
as ancient as the art of teaching, and many works 
on the subject of education contain interesting 
comments upon the topic. It will be impossible 
to go into a detailed discussion, but I feel that 
the importance and possibilities of suggestion in 
education demand some consideration. 

If parents realized the effect of suggestions 
upon their children there would be greater care 
exercised in the treatment of the little ones both 
at home and at school. Suggestions work evil 
as. well as good, and cross, irritable mothers and 
crabbed, domineering fathers develop children 
of equally unlovely characters. It is a wonder 
that children are as good as they are, considering 
the conditions under which they develop. It 
takes care and sunshine to grow flowers. Can 
we expect to raise children with less careful at- 
tention ? 

Suggestion means more than words. Ever- 
lastingly lecturing a child on duty is not giving it 
proper suggestions. Remember that actions 
speak plainer than words, and that example in- 
fluences the child more than precept. The moral 



SUGGESTION AND EDUCATION. 189 

sense is not strong in childhood, but it is grow- 
ing and needs directing into proper channels. 
The directing should be intentional and careful. 
Too often it is left to example and chance. 

Children become like those with whom they 
associate. The old adage is ever true, "Tell me 
what company you keep and I will tell you what 
you are." Kindly, considerate parents cultivate 
sweet-spirited, sympathetic children, but selfish, 
vicious parents develop uncouth brutalized chil- 
dren. The child will treat his playfellow or dog 
as his elders treat him. Like father like son is 
not an empty saying. The little girl will repeat 
the lessons and treatment to her doll that she 
has lately experienced at the hands of her 
mother, and if the mother took time enough to 
observe the picture of herself, she would be 
forced to mend her ways for very shame. 

If you recognize the truth of what has just 
been said you must admit the importance of the 
intelligent administration of helpful and correc- 
tive suggestions. Suggestions may be given in 
such an obnoxious way as to utterly fail of any 
good effect, or they may be made so attractive 
and acceptable as to effect wonders. To succeed 
in education you must go by the same route you 
do in curing diseases; namely, win the confi- 
dence of your pupil and then inspire faith. All 
things are possible with him who believes. Any 
boy will turn the grindstone so long as he be- 



190 MIND AND BODY. 

\ lieves it is fun, and any girl will work hard so 
long as she believes it is play. You can apply 
this universal law in education by three similar 
methods : 

1. By suggestions made to the pupil in the 
waking state. 

2. By suggestions made to the pupil during 
natural sleep, and 

3. By suggestions made to the pupil during 
hypnotic sleep. 

I will briefly explain and illustrate each of 
these methods. 

Some consideration must be shown for natural 
abilities and personal traits of character. Do not 
try to fit square pegs into round holes. Individ- 
ualize your pupils. Approach them through their 
likes, and, having won their cooperation, help 
them to overcome their dislikes. Above all 
things strive for a sympathetic understanding of 
your pupils. Show them that you are their 
friend and ready to aid them. Sympathy and en- 
couragement are potent factors in human educa- 
tion, and they open the door for the admission 
of helpful suggestions. 

What was said of the treatment of diseases 
is equally true of education. There are two laws ; 
namely : 

1. Credulity, or the proneness of people to 
believe without proof, and 



SUGGESTION AND EDUCATION. 191 

2. The tendency of expected effects, both men- 
tal and physical, to appear on a person. 

They are fully exemplified in every scholar. 
These laws are true, and parents and teach- 
ers should recognize and profit by them. 
The intelligent reader will as readily ap- 
ply the laws in education as the successful phy- 
sician has done in the treatment of diseases. If 
older persons are credulous, children and youtns 
are more so. If the expected happens in adults 
it will the more certainly happen in younger per- 
sons. Children become what they expect to 
become, be it sages or fools. Let us inspire 
them with high aspirations and help them to at- 
tain to them. 

A little miss, a friend and patient, of fourteen 
summers, one day told me that she despised al- 
gebra and could not learn it. 

'That is a disease," I said. "I shall have to 
cure you." 

"I wish you would," she replied. 

"Very well, I will," I answered. "Stop 
at my office every night next week as 
you go home from school and I will do 
the rest." Each day as she entered I greeted her 
by saying, "Algebra is easy; it gets easier each 
day." Then, very carefully, I would go over the 
first lesson with her, making them as simple as 
possible. I directed her to say aloud to herself 
every night before retiring : 



192 MIND AND BODY. 

"Algebra is easy ; it is becoming easier every 
day. I can learn it." 

We kept this up for the five school days, and 
at the end of the week the little lady confessed 
that she was becoming rather fond of the study 
of algebra — at any rate, it was no longer distaste- 
ful to her. 

Only one example is given, because I know 
that every parent and teacher who reads it will 
recall many others like it in their own experi- 
ence. 

Education during natural sleep has justified 
its high reputation in the hands of many parents, 
teachers and physicians, as is abundantly shown 
by the enthusiastic reports coming from all quar- 
ters. It is simple, efficacious and free from dan- 
gers. No training is necessary to perfect success 
in its use. It consists in talking to the children 
while they are asleep, thus giving to their dream- 
consciousnesses such suggestions as are needful 
to help them in their studies. The mother or 
teacher goes to the bedside and softly talks to the 
sleeper until his attention is secured without 
waking him; then the needful suggestions are 
made. 

The suggestions should be reasonable, and 
progress should be made from the things the 
sleeper likes to those that he dislikes. An illus- 
tration will best explain what is meant. 

A boy, ten years of age, who was the despair 




POSING.— See Page 220. 



SUGGESTION AND EDUCATION. 195 

of his mother and the terror of his teacher, was 
given a course of this sort of treatment with the 
following result. He was not a vicious boy, 
neither was he an angel. He was distressingly 
lazy and mischievous. The mother gave the 
treatments under my directions. Every night for 
a week, and a few times afterward, she labored 
with him. The first two nights he showed a 
disposition to rebel, but that was the only ob- 
stacle. The mother told him that he was her 
brave, good boy and that he would do what she 
wished him to do ; that he was ambitious to 
learn and stand well in his classes ; that, while he 
would enjoy his play out of doors, he would play 
no more pranks in the schoolroom ; that he would 
be courteous and kind, a real, little gentleman. 
The result was a transformation ; he became 
what she wanted him to be. Mothers, teachers, 
try this method of training and then you will 
know its real value in education. 

The employment of hypnotic suggestion in ed- 
ucation has received considerable attention from 
educators, especially in Europe, and none de- 
nies its value. Some go so far as to recom- 
mend its use as a routine practice with all chil- 
dren. This would be most unwise; it is too 
much like subjecting children to a regular course 
of sulphur and molasses every spring, whether 
they are sick or not. We do not wish to make 
automata of the children, but rather to foster 

12 



196 MIND AND BODY. 

independence and originality in them. It is quite 
right to recommend the use of hypnotic sugges- 
tion with vicious children. However, I am of the 
opinion that the two methods just mentioned 
should be recommended as possible aids first. 

The phenomena of hypnotism with which most 
persons are familiar prove beyond a peradven- 
ture that the memory and the other faculties 
of the mind may be most profoundly affected 
by suggestions given during hypnosis. Pro- 
digous feats have been performed which illus- 
trate the keenness of the senses in induced sleep. 
It is possible to strengthen a weak memory or 
make a strong one stronger. 

One of my students at the medical college 
came to me complaining of a dislike for chem- 
istry and an inability to memorize the various 
formulas, and asked me if I would help him 
by giving him a few hypnotic suggestions. I 
consented and gave him three treatments with 
mosp satisfactory results. He remarked to me 
one day later that chemistry was not nearly so 
hard; as he had thought it was. 

As! an aid to learning to do things which re- 
quire' self-confidence, suggestion is invaluable. I 
have I had many persons come to me to help 
then)? in these things. Attention was called to a 
caseHn the last chapter. I easily taught a young 
manj to swim by giving him a few suggestions. 

A lady, past the summer-time of life, was very 



SUGGESTION AND EDUCATION. 197 

anxious to learn to ride a bicycle and took many 
lessons to that end at a neighboring training 
school, but made no progress and was about to 
give up in despair and dispose of her wheel. 
Some one told her that I could aid her, so she 
came to me. I gave her a few suggestions one 
evening, and the next morning she went out to 
take her lesson and surprised herself and her 
trainer by riding "right off for more than half a 
mile." She had no further trouble, and is a 
good rider now. Several other backward pupils 
were sent to me from the riding school, in which 
like results were had. 

A thoughtful mind will indefinitely multiply 
cases where suggestion may be applied, and it 
is thought that the outline given in the several 
instances cited will serve as hints to those who 
wish to make a practical application of sugges- 
tion, and experience will quickly teach them 
much more than I could teach in many pages of 
directions and explanations. 

Autosuggestion is of the greatest importance 
in self-culture and development. It was men- 
tioned as a method of treatment for various ail- 
ments, and all that was said of it in that connec- 
tion is equally true of it in its relation to self- 
education. Autosuggestions were explained as 
made just before going to sleep, but they may 
be given directly when awake. As heterosugges- 



198 MIND AND BODY. 

tions are deepened by repetition, so are autosug- 
gestions impressed upon the mind. 

It is claimed that all that can be accomplished 
with heterosuggestion can be duplicated with 
autosuggestion. While I doubt the truth of this 
claim, I am convinced that it is possible to ac- 
complish much. By it one can make the most of 
his talents ; he can educate and develop himself ; 
he can inspire self-confidence and faith, and in 
short he can live a successful life. 

A friend of mine who is a living monument 
of the power of autosuggestion, has told me of 
many of his experiments, and his wife has cor- 
roborated his statements. One evening she said 
to me : "He is not the same man that I married 
eight years ago." In a little conversation we 
had last week he spoke substantially as follows : 

"I am sure that all I have accomplished in a 
business way has been done by self-suggestion. 
I was naturally of a timid, retiring disposition, 
but I have overcome that and by autosuggestion 
have developed a considerable self-confidence, so 
much, indeed, that some think me egotistic. I 
might give as an example of my method of mak- 
ing the suggestions, my curing myself of fear of 
darkness. 

"I began by reasoning with myself and assur- 
ing myself that there is nothing more to fear 
in the dark than in the light. I went into the 
dark to prove this to myself. I shut myself up in 



SUGGESTION AND EDUCATION. 199 

a dark room and stayed there until the feeling 
of fear vanished. I kept these suggestions up 
until I lost all fear of darkness. 

'By a similar process I taught myself how 
to go to sleep at any time in any place. I can 
obtain rest and am often greatly revived by a 
few minutes sleep plus an autosuggestion." 

Those who will take the pains to try this 
method of self-culture and persevere in it will be 
amply paid for the time and patience used. I 
speak advisedly, for I have used it myself. Go 
and do likewise. 



CHAPTER X. 

DANGERS IN THE USE OF, SUGGES- 
TION. 

The question — The newspaper press — The enthusiasts 
— The truth — The theory of psychic healing — The 
law of suggestion — Dangers in its use — Treatments 
in the waking state — Suggestibility — Ignorance of 
the force used — Unwise and hurtful suggestions — 
Made insane by bungling treatment — The fallacious 
doctrine of a force from without. Constant sug- 
gestion makes an impression — Ignorance of the 
constitution and diseases of the body — Harold 
Fredric's case — The victims — Sins of omission — 
"Power to go forth as healers and teachers" — 
Why do I insist?— Death of Mrs. J. W. Eller— Fa- 
natical parents — Treatments in sleep — Its merits 
stated — Sleep and hypnosis — Suggestibility in- 
creased directly as the depths of hypnosis — Dangers 
urged are overstated — Wholly evil or entirely bene- 
ficial — Three sources of danger — The methods used 
— Lack of comprehension of the law of suggestion 
— Hypnotic sleep not dangerous per se — Fears en- 
tertained—The law uniform in its operations — The 
one hundredth time hypnotized — Perversion of the 
idea of truth — Conflicting suggestions — Dangers in 
stage exhibitions — Dehypnotizing — Exciting sug- 
gestions — Suggestion not a panacea — An illustra- 
tion — Ignorance and neglect — Erroneous popular 
notions — Fixed convictions antagonized — Sugges- 
tions in harmony with truth. 

Before using any therapeutic agent the ques- 
tion is asked, "Is it dangerous?" It is proper 
that such a question should be asked and right 

that it should be fairly answered. Those who 
201 



202 MIND AND BODY. 

ask this question with reference to suggestive 
therapeutics are likely to get two opposite an- 
swers, for there are those who believe that no 
harm can possibly be done by suggestion, while 
there are others who believe nothing but evil 
can result from its use. How may these opposite 
opinions be accounted for? By the senseless 
expressions of the newspaper press on the one 
hand and by the glowing accounts of the) en- 
thusiasts on the other. As a matter of factj the 
truth lies about midway between the two? ex- 
tremes. 

Certainly it would be most absurd to sayj that 
a force so potent for good could not be used 
for evil, and it would be quite as absurd to deny 
the manifest beneficent effects produced by it. 

When discussing the theory of suggestion I 
called attention to the fact that there are a con- 
siderable number of different systems of psychic 
healing appearing under as many different names 
but all depending upon the common law of sug- 
gestion. Therefore, it will be unnecessary to re- 
peat further than to say that any case cured by 
any of them must depend for its explanation 
upon the universal law of suggestion. A typical 
example was given to illustrate this fact, which 
easily proves that any case in its last analysis 
is simply a case of suggestive treatment. That 
the "healer" and the patient both fail to recog- 



DANGERS IN THE USE OF SUGGESTION. 203 

nize this truth does not alter the case; many 
forces are used unwittingly. 

This being true, we are prepared to consider 
the dangers in the use of psychic forces in the 
treatment of diseases, or in other words, the 
dangers in the use of suggestion. Suggestive 
treatments are given : 

1. In the waking state. 

2. In natural sleep. 

3. In induced sleep. 

Separate chapters have been devoted to these 
methods, in which they were considered in some 
detail, but it will be well to briefly review them 
with special reference to the dangers which may 
attend their use. 

Under what conditions may suggestive 
treatments become a source of danger to the 
patient's physical and mental health? It 
will be surprising to some to learn that more 
danger attends the treatment of persons in the 
waking state than in either sleep or hypnosis. 
However, the danger is not due to the use of 
suggestion per se. According to* my experience, 
although all persons are more or less suggestible 
in the waking state, only a few can best be 
treated in that state. To obtain ideal results, an 
increased or induced susceptibility must be se- 
cured. This condition obtains chiefly in the 
subconscious conditions of sleep and hypnosis. 

Most of the psycho-curative systems treat their 



204 MIND AND BODY. 

patients in the normal, waking state, and many 
of the dangers in the use of suggestion occur 
with these. The dangers arise from two sources, 
namely : 

1. Ignorance of the force used. 

2. Ignorance of the constitution and diseases 
of the human body. 

Ignorance of the power and action if sug- 
gestion leads to the making of unwise and hurt- 
ful suggestions. It is next to impossible that a 
power so potent for good or evil could be igno- 
rantly used without sometimes doing harm. My 
attention was called to a case in point recently 
where a lady went insane under the bungling 
treatment of a so-called scientist. 

The patient was in bad health, sorrow and 
illness had reduced her to a state of neurasthe- 
nia, when she went to the "healer." She was suf- 
fering chiefly from neuralgic headaches and in- 
somnia and that is what she took "treatments" 
for. She was assured that there was no body, 
that the mind was all, hence there could be no 
pain, no headaches and that she must ignore 
and deny them. It was too much and her mind 
gave way. 

Most of these curative systems have and teach 
the fallacious doctrine that some force from 
without, from God, a departed spirit or another 
person, enters the patient to determine the cura- 
tive results ; whereas, it is the patient's own mind 



DANGERS IN THE USE OP SUGGESTION. 205 

which accomplishes all that is done. Moreover, 
those who know the power of the mind over the 
body appreciate the importance of making prop- 
er suggestions not only to the sick but to the 
well. 

Far be it from me to belittle the power of sug- 
gestion for the whole fabric of suggestive thera- 
peutics is builded upon its potency. When we 
observe results as they thrust themselves upon us 
daily we must admit that the power of suggestion 
is marvelous and no mind, be it ever so strong, 
is proof against it. Constant dropping wears away 
the stone and constant suggestion makes an im- 
pression upon any mind. A few weeks ago a 
lady colleague, one of my former students, called 
upon me and with gleaming eyes and excited 
manner, asked : 

"Am I insane?" 

As quietly as possible I replied : "No, I don't 
think so. Why?" 

"Oh, I have been seeing and doing strange 
things lately." 

Then she explained that her husband 
had been telling her for months, morning, 
noon and night, repeatedly, that she was crazy. 
And his diabolical plan came near succeeding in 
making her so. That was constant suggestion 
upon a strong mind. She has been saved, but 
others have been lost. 

Serious as these results from improper sugges- 



206 MIND AND BODY. 

tions are, they are of small importance when 
compared with those that result from ignorance 
of the constitution and diseases of the human 
body. Physiology, anatomy and pathology are 
unknown sciences to most "healers," and they 
are utterly unable to diagnose the diseases from 
which their patients are suffering. The novel- 
ist, Harold Frederic's case, is an illustration in 
point. As in his case, the application of their the- 
ories is often homicidal. To be sure he dismissed 
his physician and placed himself in the hands of 
the woman, Mills, who did him to death. He is 
dead, but his folly lives after him. If it were 
only those able to choose for themselves who suf- 
fered it would not matter so much, but most of 
the victims are innocent, helpless children and 
mentally unbalanced fanatics who are led like 
sheep to the slaughter. Certainly persons utter- 
ly incapable to diagnose diseases should not be 
permitted to let people die of infectious diseases, 
heart diseases and the like, which might be re- 
lieved by properly applied therapeutic agents, 
while they mumble and practice their hocus po- 
cus. Sina of omission are very black sins in some 
cases. 

The medical profession does not object to their 
cures because of their prayers, faith, spirits or 
magnetic fluid, but because of their monumental 
ignorance. They lack the most elementary 
knowledge needful to practice healing. This is 



DANGERS IN THE USE OF SUGGESTION. 207 

the cause for the disrepute of the various systems 
of psychic healing and the greatest obstacle that 
suggestive healing and education have had to 
overcome. 

A class of about seventy was recently gradu- 
ated and given degrees from the Massachusetts 
Metaphysical College with power to go forth as 
"healers and teachers of this system of medi- 
cine, whose only crowned head is divine sover- 
eignty, whose priest is spiritualized man." It is 
the highest mission that man can engage in, but 
are they fully prepared for it ? No, if I am right- 
ly informed, and I think I am, they are utterly 
ignorant of the constitution and diseases of the 
body that they go forth to minister to, indeed 
they have been taught to deny its very existence. 
It is eminently proper that the public should be 
protected from the manifest dangers arising from 
unlearned persons practicing healing. No mat- 
ter whether they give drugs or not, they should 
be required to qualify themselves in certain fun- 
damentals in medical learning. The various state 
boards of health have a duty to perform in this 
connection. Why do I insist upon this? Let 
me cite one out of a thousand cases that are 
found on every hand. 

An Omaha paper, recently recited and com- 
mented upon the most painful death from a burn 
of Mrs. J. W. Eller, wife of ex-county judge J. 
W. Eller of that city. One of the "healers" said : 



208 MIND AND BODY. 

"I was called to the house the afternoon the fire 
occurred and went, but I did not know the na- 
ture of her injuries." 

"Did you treat her?" 

"Yes, I was one of those who treated her/' he 
replied. 

No examination was made and nothing was 
done to allay the pain. They allowed the unfor- 
tunate woman to lie and die there suffering the 
pains of the damned without so much as lifting 
a finger to soothe her suffering. And yet, they 
profess to be followers of the sympathizing Jesus. 
I call that barbarous inhumanity. Should such 
things be allowed to occur in the last year of the 
nineteenth century? 

Parents are often quite as fanatic as the so- 
called scientists. I have had several cases like 
the following : A pair of religious fanatics stood 
over their dying child and said to me : 

"We have placed the child in the hands of the 
Lord and do not think you had better give it any 
medicine. If it is His will He will save its life, 
if not He will take it to Himself." And yet they 
love their children dearly. 

Treatment by suggestion in natural sleep is a 
new method with most of us, but it has been 
found an important means in many cases. It is 
simple, effective and free from dangers when in- 
telligently used. Those who have made use of 
it most are agreed as to its merits, flowever, 



DANGERS IN THE USE OF SUGGESTION. 209 

since in effect it is practically the same as treat- 
ment in hypnosis it will be unnecessary to dis- 
cuss it separately. What is true of suggestion 
in hypnosis is equally true of it in sleep, for the 
person who is treated in sleep is changed from 
natural to induced sleep or hypnosis before he is 
prepared to receive the curative suggestions. 
Any danger in either is, therefore, common to 
both. 

Treatment and education in natural sleep will 
be found explained and illustrated in other parts 
of this volume. 

Suggestion produces its most powerful effects 
in induced sleep or hypnosis. Suggestibility is 
increased directly proportional to the depth of 
the state of hypnosis. However, very satisfac- 
tory and lasting effects are obtained in light hyp- 
noses. Since hypnotism is the means used to 
produce hypnosis it is at hypnotism that the an- 
athamas have been hurled for all of the dangers, 
both real and supposed, that attend treatments 
in these states. 

The dangers urged against hypnotic sugges- 
tions are greatly overstated and come more from 
the literature of romance and fiction than from 
history and science. A careful unbiased inves- 
tigation will satisfy any one that the intelligent 
use of this therapeutic is no more dangerous than 
any other, whether it be drugs, electricity or 
what not. 



210 MIND AND BODY. 

Hypnotic suggestion may be wholly evil in its 
effects upon a patient or it may be entirely bene- 
ficial. Between these extremes it finds its re- 
sults and it needs intelligent direction so that 
it may always be a blessing. Skill, experience 
and good judgment are valuable factors in avoid- 
ing the various dangers that beset the use of hyp- 
notic suggestion. These dangers arise from 
three sources, namely : 

i. The methods of inducing hypnosis. 

2. A lack of comprehension of the true im- 
port of the law of suggestion, and 

3. The attempt to make it a panacea. 

The methods of hypnotizing have been ex- 
plained and attention has been called to the fact 
that any method which acts as a shock to the 
subject's nervous system is bad and injurious. 
That is why Charcot and his followers for the 
most part, consider hypnotism an unmitigated 
evil and deny it any place in acceptable thera- 
peutics. These sudden-shock methods always 
do harm and if they are continued for any length 
of time will leave their victim a nervous wreck. 

While this is true of the shock methods it is 
just as true that there is no need of using them in 
order to obtain all of the benefits of hypnotic 
suggestion. It has been shown that hypnosis 
may be induced by the most soothing and harm- 
less methods. The induction of hypnosis is in 
itself no more injurious than soothing a child to 



DANGERS IN THE USE OF SUGGESTION. 211 

sleep ; indeed they are much the same thing. 
Hypnotic sleep undisturbed by exciting halluci- 
nations and false suggestions is identical with 
natural sleep. No man can tell when a subject 
passes from one into the other, let him watch 
ever so closely. 

Hence it follows that the hypnotic sleep is not 
a danger per se and he who submits to its rest- 
ful influence is in no more danger than he who 
"wraps the drapery of his couch about him and 
lies down to pleasant dreams." Moreover, the 
restful and recuperative effects of natural sleep 
may be greatly enhanced by the helpful aid of 
therapeutic suggestions. 

The fears that many have that the sub- 
ject may not come out of the trance or if he does 
it will be with a weakened mind, are groundless, 
as all who know that it is the patient's own mind 
that produces all of the results will testify. The 
same suggestions that induce sleep will dissi- 
pate it. It always results from a cooperation; 
the patient must be willing and passive or he 
cannot be influenced. This is as true the one 
hundredth time as it was the first time he was 
hypnotized. This seems to prove that no weak- 
ening effect is experienced. In my experience it 
has served rather to strengthen the mind than 
otherwise. 

Much greater dangers arise from lack of com- 
prehension of the law of suggestion. It is sim- 

13 



212 MIND AND BODY. 

pie enough to be understood by any fairly intel- 
ligent person for like most natural laws it is uni- 
form in its operations. It depends upon the dual 
constitution of the mind for its explanation and 
it is the subconscious mind which is amenable to 
suggestions. 

This suggestibility of the subject, which ren- 
ders him amenable to both true and false sug- 
gestions, furnishes the explanation of most of the 
sources of danger to his health. Every mind 
loves the truth in its normal condition, but by 
persistent suggestion it may be perverted to the 
last degree. Nothing is more patent to the hyp- 
notist than this fact. 

All have observed the opposition made to 
suggestions which are contrary to fact and many 
times it has been impossible to make the sub- 
ject accept them. 

The expression of distress which is seen upon 
a subject's face upon receiving two conflicting 
suggestions, even of trivial character, has been 
observed by every one. If the suggestions are 
persisted in the subject is sometimes awakened 
suffering from the nervous shock. In some in- 
stances, where an objectionable suggestion has 
been pushed, the subject has been thrown into 
convulsions or a hystero-epileptic fit. 

It should be mentioned here that hallucina- 
tions of various character given in close succes- 



DANGERS IN THE USE OP SUGGESTION. 213 

sion tend to shock the patient's nervous system 
in the same way. 

Much of the prejudice against hypnotic sug- 
gestion has been caused by the stage exhibitions, 
in which the subject has been made to appear like 
an automaton in the hands of the operator. The 
average man would say : 

"If that hypnotist can make that subject lose 
his personal identity, change him into a pig and 
make him eat a tallow candle with relish, I want 
nothing to do with him or his ism." 

It can not be denied that serious harm 
is sometimes done to these professional 
subjects, but it is largely due to the igno- 
rance or carelessness of the operator. If he was 
careful to remove all of the effects of the various 
suggestions before waking the subjects, there 
would, probably, be little damage as a result. 

Let me emphasize this point. Care should al- 
ways be taken in waking subjects. Make it a 
point to put the patient into a comfortable, happy 
frame of mind, and make a positive suggestion 
that he will wake up feeling refreshed, before 
waking him. And then do not wake him too 
suddenly ; prepare him for the change. It is not 
necessary to say that a subject waked up while 
under an exciting suggestion, as of a fire, will 
suffer from a severe nervous shock. The prep- 
aration for waking will avoid such after effects 
as languor and fatigue. 



214 MIND AND BODY. 

Exciting suggestions are rarely if ever justi- 
fiable and, moreover, they are never necessary 
where hypnotic suggestion is used as a therapeu- 
tic agent. All of the manifold beneficial results 
may be obtained without the necessity of pro- 
ducing any of these extreme conditions with 
their consequent shock to the nervous system. 

The third danger mentioned was an attempt to 
make suggestion a panacea. It is not, and any 
attempt to make it so must fail. When sugges- 
tion is put forward as a cure-all it deserves the 
same condemnation accorded to all so-called 
cure-alls. Any remedy adopted as a panacea is 
dangerous in at least one direction, namely, it 
displaces other useful remedial agencies. Let 
me illustrate. 

I might give the most approved suggestive 
treatment to a patient rapidly failing from loss of 
blood from a ruptured vessel, but if I did so 
and neglected to ligature the bleeding vessel I 
would not only fail to save his life but would 
also be guilty of culpable neglect. The same 
would be true of any disease which could not be 
controlled by ', suggestion but could be relieved 
by some other treatment. 

This danger was urged against ignorance of 
the constitution\and diseases of the human body, 
but as between \ignorance and negligence the 
latter is the more culpable. 

Certain popular notions obtain in some sec- 



DANGERS IN THE USE OF SUGGESTION. 215 

tions of the country which are far from the 
truth. The hypnotist is not necessarily a Sven- 
gali-like character, nor has he any special gift 
of occult power. Any one can be a hypnotist if 
he learns the art. It is simply an art. Every 
physician should know the art; it is a mark of 
ignorance if he does not. 

Suggestion is not a mysterious force. Its 
rationale is as well understood as drug action. 
With some mystery is synonymous with danger 
and every mystery is surrounded by an imagin- 
ary horde of vague horrors. 

The fact has been emphasized that where the 
suggestion is opposed to the fixed conviction and 
knowledge of the subject it is a greater or less 
shock. Another fact should not be overlooked, 
namely, when the suggestion is in harmony with 
the subject's belief and wish it is the more readily 
accepted. So it happens when curative sugges- 
tions are given they find a ready acceptance for 
health is normal and disease abnormal. Helpful 
suggestions have this advantage over harmful 
ones. It is true of suggestion as it is of every 
natural law, it follows the lines of least resist- 
ance. So suggestions in harmony with the 
truth are more readily accepted than those which 
are opposed to it. 

A false notion is much taught, namely, that 
it is easier to do evil than to do good. This 
is not true, in a normal child or adult, but it of- 



216 MIND AND BODY. 

ten becomes so because they are taught to be- 
lieve it is so. 

The relation of hypnotism to crime deserves a 
brief consideration, but it would be somewhat 
out of place in this connection so it will be re- 
served for another chapter. 

Let me conclude by saying that all of the dan- 
gers and objections that are urged against the 
use of suggestive hypnotism are such as may be 
avoided by an intelligent physician, but any or 
all of them may be rightly urged against its use 
in ignorant hands. No valuable therapeutic 
agent is without its dangers and it would be 
strange if suggestion had none. If the dangers 
and limitations of any therapeutic agent are un- 
derstood and may be controlled what more could 
be desired? Most of the drugs used as medi- 
cines are poisons and yet we use them daily 
and none complains against them. Let us be fair 
and reasonable and prove all things and keep and 
use those that are found good and useful. 



CHAPTER XL 
CRIMINAL SUGGESTION. 

The charge — Only legitimate uses concern us — Pop- 
ular opinion — Professional opinion — Extremists — 
An intermediate position the true one — A just state- 
ment of the facts — The nature of the case peculiar 
— Suggestion a universal law — Suggestibility is in- 
creased by hypnotism — Difficult to make experi- 
ments — Criminal suggestion possible — Can take ad- 
vantage of the subject — Crimes have been com- 
mitted — An instance — Subject not necessarily a 
criminal — Signing valuable papers — A profound 
hypnosis in a colored girl — Inducing subjects to 
commit crime — Fixed moral convictions or con- 
science — The law of self-preservation — Origin of 
auto-suggestions — The doubting student convinced 
— A second test — My friend's experiment — A black 
eye and a bloody nose — Manner of making sugges- 
tions — Perversion of conscience by suggestions — 
Legal status of the subject of hypnotism and crime 
— Four conclusions — The facts stated. 

Any discussion of suggestion, however brief, 
that failed to consider its relation to crime would 
be open to the charge of omitting a very impor- 
tant factor in the subject. So it is my purpose 
to briefly set forth the convictions which I have 
arrived at through my personal experiences with 
hypnotism. I have reserved these remarks for 
this last chapter for the reason that there is no 
real need for them. The legitimate uses of hyp- 
notism are what we are concerned with and it 

217 



218 MIND AND BODY. 

is hoped that none who would use it for a crim- 
inal purpose will read these pages. 

Various opinions are held concerning the rela- 
tion of hypnotic suggestion and crime. The 
newspaper press by obscuring the truth and 
emphasizing the sensational aspects of the sub- 
ject have succeeded in producing the belief in 
the popular mind that hypnotism is a diabolical 
power by which the hypnotist can cast his hor- 
rid spell over people and make them rush into 
all sorts of crimes. It is urged that the hypnotist 
has absolute power over his subjects and while 
they are under his control he can take any sort 
of advantage of them. There is some ground 
for this notion, but when it is remembered that 
the hypnotist in most cases is the physician and 
that the same might be urged against any an- 
aesthetic, it loses its force, even if it were strictly 
true, which it is not. The subject is never un- 
conscious and never loses his grip upon the first 
law of nature, self-preservation. Resistance is 
often made and not infrequently the patient re- 
turns to his normal state, which he can always 
do if occasion demands it. More of this pres- 
ently. 

Hypnotists differ in opinion among them- 
selves upon the relation between hypnotism and 
crime. Some deny the possibility of making 
subjects perform foolish actions, much less 
crimes, and in their efforts to remove the appre- 



CRIMINAL SUGGESTION. 219 

hension from the public mind have unduly min- 
imized the influence of the hypnotist over his 
subjects. Others go to the other extreme and 
insist that it is possible to compel the subject to 
commit the most heinous crimes, and in their ef- 
forts to prove this theory they have made many 
extravagant and impossible statements. 

It is impossible to reconcile the opinions of 
these extremists. There must be an intermedi- 
ate position where the truth is found. Indeed, 
this is the case. They are both partly right and 
partly wrong. While the subject is not an auto- 
maton it is possible to dominate him to a certain 
extent. I quite agree with Mr. Hudson when 
he justly says : 

"I do not undertake to say that auto-sugges- 
tions arising from either one of the sources 
named (the instinct of self-preservation, educa- 
tion, experience, religion, principles of moral 
rectitude or even from a sense of personal dig- 
nity), or from all of them combined, would in all 
cases afford protection to a hypnotized subject 
against suggestions of a criminal character. In 
other words, I do not deny the proposition that 
it is possible under certain conditions, for a hyp- 
notized subject to be induced by a criminal hyp- 
notist to commit a crime, and I know of no one 
who does deny it." — Hypnotic Magazine, March, 
1897. 
The nature of the case is peculiar and the sev- 



220 MIND AND BODY. 

eral factors should be remembered. They are, 
for the most part, plain to the reader, but may 
be briefly restated for the sake of clearness. They 
are as follows : 

First. Suggestion is a universal law and none 
escapes its influence. The boy who is thrown 
among evil associations is made a criminal by 
criminal suggestions. The girl who keeps bad 
company is influenced in a like manner and is led 
astray by suggestions. The same is true of 
adults, but not to the same extent. All are influ- 
enced by their associates. 

Second. This suggestibility is increased by 
hypnotism. If criminals are made by sugges- 
tions received in the normal, waking state they 
are more easily made in a state of increased sug- 
gestibility. The whole value of suggestive hyp- 
notism depends upon this increased suggestibil- 
ity. If it does not exist the major part of sug- 
gestive therapeutics is a fiction and hypnotism 
is a farce. That a person in hypnosis can be in- 
duced to do more than the same person in the 
waking state is a self-evident truth. It is diffi- 
cult to make a sensible person believe that the 
subjects do these things "just to please the ope- 
rator/' Do people of good taste eat tallow can- 
dles? Do refined people get down and wallow 
upon the floor like pigs? Do modest persons 
divest themselves of their clothing and pose in 
the nude? In short, do intelligent men and 



CRIMINAL SUGGESTION. 221 

women expose themselves to ridicule and con- 
tempt to just please anybody? 

Third. It is most difficult to make satisfactory 
experiments in criminal suggestion, first, be- 
cause any real experiments would be crimes, and 
second, because they would not be reported if 
they were successfully made for this very rea- 
son. No self-respecting person would willingly 
advertise the fact that he had proven the criminal 
relationship of hypnotism by committing crimes. 
Unfortunately the laboratory crimes of which 
many have been performed are unsatisfactory 
and inconclusive. 

These are the chief factors in the case and a 
fair interpretation of them plainly shows that 
the subject of criminal hypnotism should not be 
ignored. It is certainly possible to make crim- 
inal use of hypnotic suggestion. When this ad- 
mission is made the question immediately arises : 
What is the nature of the possible crimes? The 
answer is plain: 

i. The hypnotist can take criminal advantage 
of the subject, and 

2. The subject can be induced to commit 
crimes. 

A brief discussion of these two propositions is 
needful to explain exactly what is meant. 

The crimes of hypnotists have rarely been 
published, but that they have committed some 
there is no doubt. Do not misunderstand me. 



222 MIND AND BODY. 

I do not say that the hypnotist can commit 
wholesale crime upon his subjects, but I do in- 
sist that in rare instances it is possible to com- 
mit crimes and in rarer ones it has been done. I 
know of at least two cases in point. Here is one. 

A maiden lady, about thirty years of age, went 
to a hypnotist to learn his art. He offered to teach 
it to her for a certain fee, which she paid. He 
taught her the art and incidentally ruined her. 
Very reluctantly she told me her story, which I 
feel perfectly sure is true. Details are unneces- 
sary here, the facts are plain. By post-hypnotic 
suggestions he rendered her an easy victim to his 
lust. 

I am aware that some say that a subject who 
will receive a criminal suggestion is necessarily 
a criminal at heart, but that is not only begging 
the question, but it is stating what is manifest- 
ly untrue. This case cannot be so explained. 
The facts remain that hypnotism was used in 
committing the crime and that it was against the 
woman's moral character and without her will- 
ing consent. It is possible that it might have 
been done without the use of hypnotism, but it 
was not. 

It is possible to make the subject sign valu- 
able papers while under hypnosis. However, 
this is rare and depends upon the depth of the 
hypnosis, of which I shall have more to say pres- 
ently. I had a young man sign a note of hand 



CRIMINAL SUGGESTION. 223 

for a considerable amount and suggested that he 
would have no memory of signing it. The note 
was afterwards presented to him for payment. 
He admitted that the note appeared all right, but 
denied having any knowledge of having signed 
it. 

It is next to impossible to awaken some sub- 
jects when they have been given the suggestion 
that nothing will wake them up until the operator 
commands them to awaken. I am convinced 
that serious harm might be done to a subject in 
such a state. Let me cite an experiment made a 
number of years ago when I was studying the 
phenomena of hypnosis. 

A young colored girl seventeen years of age 
was under my care and was being treated by sug- 
gestion for an habit. I obtained her mother's 
consent to the following experiment : 

One day after giving her the usual sug- 
gestions with reference to her habit, I 
suggested that she would go into a very 
profound sleep from which no one could 
possibly awaken her except myself and that no 
matter what happened she would not wake 
up until I told her to do so. Then I left 
the room and had one of my students go to the 
girl and try to awaken her, but he could not do 
so, although he went so far as to pretend that he 
was about to violate her person. He even tum- 
bled her from the couch upon the floor. I 



224 MIND AND BODY. 

watched him through a transom and am sure 
that he left no chance for question that he was in 
dead earnest, but the girl was as unresisting as 
though she were anesthetized or dead. 

The possibility of inducing a hypnotized sub- 
ject to commit crime is admitted by all, but it 
should be borne in mind that it is only rarely 
possible. This possibility depends upon several 
considerations such as the following: 

i. The moral character of the subject. 

2. The depth of the hypnosis. 

3. The manner of giving the suggestions. 

4. The possibility of perverting the subject's 
conscience. 

It is pretty generally conceded that a weak or 
vicious character renders a subject liable to crim- 
inal suggestions. Let me add that an unformed 
character is in the same danger that a weak one 
is and that many men and women are well ad- 
vanced in life before they form convictions that 
are fixed. The fixed moral convictions are called 
conscience and conscience depends upon educa- 
tion and environment. The same conscience 
that will compel its owner to burn at the stake 
will also compel him to burn another at the 
same stake for conscience's sake. If conscience 
is the line between right and wrong it is a very 
crooked line. There is said to be "honor among 
thieves and murderers" and it is doubtless true 
that there are certain fixed convictions in bad 



CRIMINAL SUGGESTION. 225 

men as well as in good ones. These fixed con- 
victions are the measure of the real man and de- 
termine his real character. Solomon had refer- 
ence to these when he said : "As a man think- 
eth in his heart so is he." So, when I say that 
criminal suggestions depend upon the moral 
character of the subject I mean these fixed con- 
victions, and if he has no fixed character he is 
more liable to criminal suggestions. 

It is doubtless true that consciousness and a 
grip on self-preservation are never lost in any 
subject, but the latter only operates when the 
subject recognizes the danger. With a subject 
who has perfect confidence in the operator there 
is an unsuspecting submission that could easily 
be abused and that criminally. This is an im- 
portant point, for if the subject goes into the 
hypnosis with a fear or reservation in his mind 
it will be next to impossible to overcome these 
autosuggestions without waking him up. A hyp- 
notized subject will lie as fluently as he could if 
he were awake, if he has made up his mind to 
protect any secret. 

These autosuggestions which have their 
origin in the subject's instinct of self-preserva- 
tion, conscience and sense of personal dignity 
are the sentinels upon the watch tower of a per- 
son's character, and, for the most part, will pro- 
tect him from danger in his waking and sleeping 
hours. 



226 MIND AND BODY. 

The depth of the state of hypnosis must be 
taken into account. It has been shown that a 
profound hypnosis renders it possible for the 
operator to impose upon the subject. Another 
condition to criminal suggestion depends upon 
it as well, namely, a deep hypnosis renders the, 
subject more suggestible, and beside he is likely 
to forget what happened during the induced 
sleep. This suggests the question : Can a sub- 
ject be induced to commit crime by post-hyp- 
notic suggestion? This question must be an- 
swered in the affirmative. 

One of my students denied the possibility of 
making a person perform even foolish actions in 
hypnosis. We agreed to make a test, he being 
the subject. It was arranged that I should try 
to make him say to another professor in the col- 
lege at a given signal : 

"Professor Blank, I do not receive any benefit 
from your clinics." 

He knew what he was to say and when he was 
to say it and when the trial came off it was a 
failure and he was delighted. However, he ad- 
mitted that he "felt mightily like saying it." 

I was not satisfied. A couple of weeks later I 
hypnotized him again and while he was in a 
deep hypnosis I suggested : 

"When the clerk of the clinic ties a knot in her 
handkerchief you will remember what I am about 



CRIMINAL SUGGESTION. 227 

to tell you to do and you will immediately do it. 
Do you understand?" 

"Yes," he replied. 

"Very well, this is what I want you to do: 
When you see the signal, go to the hydrant and 
draw a glass of water and take it to Professor 
Blank and hand it to him and say: 'Professor 
Blank, here is a glass of beer.' Will you re- 
member and do it?" 

"Yes, I will do it," he said. 

There was a large attendance at the clinic, but 
he faithfully performed the task. This time rfe 
was not prepared to resist. To be sure this was 
not a criminal act, but it shows the direction 
of the danger. The post-hypnotic suggestions 
come upon the subject as irresistible impulses 
and the disposition is to yield to them first and 
reason about them afterward. With a few sub- 
jects there is practically no limit to this post- 
hypnotic influence. 

Abduction might be accomplished by this 
means : An appointment could be made in an 
out-of-the-way place which the subject would 
keep and thus render the abduction easy. A 
friend told me this incident : 

"I had a lady patient whom I was treating by 
hypnotic suggestion and I knew she was anxious 
to hear one of your lectures so I made the fol- 
lowing experiment. One day after giving her 
a treatment I asked her, while she was still hyp- 

14 



228 MIND AND BODY. 

notized, if she would like to attend your lecture, 
several days later in the week. She said that she 
would, so I gave her this suggestion: 'Meet me 
at eight o'clock at the notion store at the corner 
of such and such streets. Do not fail me/ Al- 
though it was a stormy night and the location 
was lonely, I found her waiting for me when I 
entered the store, at five minutes before eight 
o'clock." 

That, in some instances, it is possible to make 
a subject do another person bodily injury I have 
no doubt. I recall an instance in point. 

A young man while hypnotized was told that 
he had been robbed and a friend of his pointed 
out as the thief. To make the suggestion real 
the friend exhibited some money. As a matter 
of fact the subject was "broke." The subject 
assaulted the supposed thief with such prompt- 
ness and violence that he blackened his eye and 
made his nose bleed before he could be re- 
strained. 

I do not know to what lengths a subject could 
be induced to go in committing crimes of this 
sort, but I do know that I would prefer that 
some one else should be the object of the assault. 

The manner of making suggestions is impor- 
tant. A suggestion which clashes sharply with 
the subject's autosuggestions is much less like- 
ly to carry than one which is in harmony with 
them. A suggestion must be made plausible and 



CRIMINAL SUGGESTION. 229 

the required action justified to the subject's 
mind. For instance, a very moral lady was made 
to steal a sum of money by post-hypnotic sug- 
gestion when it was explained that the money 
had been dishonestly taken and that she must 
take it so that it might be restored to its right- 
ful owners. 

Moreover, the command itself is important, a 
forceful, urgent one is much more likely to be 
obeyed than an apathetic one. Patients have 
told me that the impulse to do the deed is so 
strong that they cannot perform the requirement 
quickly enough. 

Perversion of conscience by suggestion is a 
possibility. I do not forget when I make this 
statement that conscience is "that sleepless sen- 
tinel on the watch-tower of the human soul, 
which guards and protects each one who is en- 
dowed with that faculty from the assaults of sin 
and shame." I also remember that "to admit 
criminal suggestion is to deny the existence 
of free will." However, I know that conscience 
is largely a matter of education and that sugges- 
tion is the most potent factor in education, and 
I also know that free will is a comparative ex- 
pression and many know that few are absolutely 
free to will and to do. When is a person's edu- 
cation finished ? That is the time that it becomes 
impossible to further pervert his conscience. 
Conscience is a sliding scale. Persistent sugges- 



230 MIND AND BODY. 

tion can make it what it wills. Suggestion makes 
the lax conscience of the sinner and it makes 
the rigid conscience of the saint and between the 
two it makes all grades. What is done regular- 
ly naturally by ordinary suggestions can be done 
occasionally by hypnotic suggestions. 

Legal lights claim that hypnotism should 
never be admitted as a defense for one who has 
committed a crime. It stands in the same posi- 
tion as drunkenness for the sufficient reason 
that no man can be hypnotized against his own 
will and since he is responsible for getting into 
a state of hypnosis he is responsible for what he 
does while he is in the state. My legal knowl- 
edge would not justify my discussing this point 
if it were advisable, but it is not. Mr. Clark Bell, 
who is competent to speak upon the subject, af- 
ter a full discussion reaches the following con- 
clusions : 

"The question before the courts will always 
be one of fact for the jury : 

"(a) Was the accused in the condition known 
as the hypnotic trance or state? 

"(b Was his mind under the control or dom- 
ination of the hypnotizer? 

"(c) Did the accused, at the time of the act, 
know of the nature, character and effect of his 
act, or was his act caused by the domination and 
will of the hypnotizer, either in conscience or un- 
conscious states? 



CRIMINAL SUGGESTION. 231 

'"A jury must be made to believe that the act 
was done wholly without conscious knowledge 
of the act, or that his will was absolutely under 
the control and domination of the hypnotizer, 
and that he had not the power to resist that 
control, to affect the question of responsibility." 

In outline I have stated the worst as well as 
the best things I know of suggestion and I trust 
my readers may feel that I have at least tried 
to be fair in my statements. I am of the opinion 
that the truth is the best for all concerned in the 
subject of suggestion. Certainly nothing could 
be gained by hiding the facts. Criminal sugges- 
tion is rare, but it is a possibility, so let us admit 
it. 

In conclusion, let me say that it is my firm 
belief that as hypnotism becomes better under- 
stood and more used by the profession and the 
laity that it will more and more lose its dangers 
and criminal aspects, until they become so few 
and unimportant that they will hardly be worth 
consideration. 



THE END. 



W 36 82 




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